Smart, fun, animal-loving, football

Uwalde, Texas – She wrote notes to her family, hid them so that they could be found later, and loved to feed the animals on the family ranch. He enjoyed sitting in the back of the school bus so he could talk to the other kids.

On Saturday, family members held the funeral of two 10-year-olds, Makena Elroda and Rachelio Torres. They were among 19 students killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uwald, Texas, along with two teachers.

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Makena Lee Elrod

Her family asked in an obituary on the funeral home’s website that people attending the Makena Life Festival at the First Baptist Church should wear purple in her honor. The family called her “a light to all who knew her.”

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She was full of life and loved softball, gymnastics, singing and dancing, her family said. She was a member of the 4-H Club, who also loved walking with her father to the family ranch.

The family said her smile lit up the room. In the family she was also remembered as a born leader who loved school.

The New York Daily News reported that Makena donated friendship bracelets to the people closest to her.

“She was beautiful, funny, smart and amazing,” the aunt wrote on the GoFundMe page. “She had the biggest heart and loved her family and friends so much.”

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Rachel Fernandez Torres

Every morning, when he got on the school bus, he asked to sit in the back, because that’s where the “visit” takes place, his school bus driver told the Associated Press. He was “like a bull,” funny and charismatic, she said. He loved the hot takis.

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That morning, he got up at 5:30 to prepare for school, according to the Wall Street Journal. Aunt told KSAT-TV in San Antonio that Rachello was smart and hardworking.

His family described him in an obituary on the funeral home’s website as benevolent and “always eager to help.” Rogelio loved being on the streets, and his hobbies included Pokemon and playing football and video games. “He always had a smile on his face.”

“He was the one who loved,” another aunt told The New York Times. “He loved his brothers and sisters.”

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More about shooting at a school in Uwalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting