Hundreds mourn Spencer
GHS basketball to retire jersey number 41

Pallbearers take Brooke Spencer's casket to the waiting hearse following funeral services Monday at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup. Hundreds of family, friends, community members and basketball fans packed the church to say good-bye and try to cope with Spencer's death. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

Brooke Spencer

GALLUP — Brooke Spencer's "bright light"was extinguished last Wednesday.

On Monday, nearly 1,000 people gathered in Gallup's Sacred Heart Cathedral to mourn the community's loss of Spencer, the recent Gallup High School graduate and gifted athlete who, in the words of her cousin Kiyoko Patterson, had a "warm, radiant smile" that "filled a room, a gym, a field" and whose "bright light was extinguished too soon."

The standing room only crowd of mourners - family members, friends, former teammates, coaches, teachers, and sports fans joined together to remember the 18-year-old girl who had always wanted to play on the Lady Bengals' basketball team, who was planning to go to college in the fall to study nursing, and who wanted to someday have seven children.

Spencer did achieve her goal of becoming a member of the Lady Bengals, and her talents on the basketball court helped lead the team to recapture the New Mexico State 5A Championship title for Gallup High School this spring.

"She fulfilled her dream, her goal, and she had the time of her life," said Patterson of Spencer's senior year on the team.

But Spencer's dreams of attending college, becoming a nurse, and becoming a mother were destroyed by a senseless act of violence last week. On Wednesday, June 7, Spencer died after being stabbed several times, allegedly by a former boyfriend she had reportedly broken-up with recently.

In the funeral service, Pastor Andrew Begaye said Spencer touched the lives of people in Gallup, the state, the Navajo Nation, and even some people across the nation. "Every life that she touched," he said, "that's why you're here."

Spencer's own life, Begaye said, was touched by someone else. Spencer was raised by a family with Christian faith, he said, and she had a personal faith in God.

"She had a life changing experience," he said of her belief in Christ.

Patterson, who delivered the eulogy on behalf of her family, admitted that Spencer's "devotion to God" had given Spencer's family some peace over the last difficult and painful week.

Patterson talked about Spencer's family; her childhood; her years of schooling, first at Rehoboth and later at Gallup High; her love for children; her athletic talent; the college offers she had received; and her dreams for the future.

"Brooke had a desire to help people, and that's why she wanted to be a nurse," she said of Spencer's goals.

In addition to being a basketball player, Spencer was a gifted softball player, added Patterson, who described her cousin as a strong catcher and powerhouse hitter. During her years on Rehoboth's team, she said, Spencer was named to the Navajo Times All-Area All-Stars Softball Team. Last year, while playing for an Albuquerque traveling softball team, Spencer was named Most Valuable Player during a tournament that sent her team to a national World Series tournament. Two days after Spencer's death, added Patterson, a softball scholarship award letter arrived from Western New Mexico University in Silver City.

Spencer had also received an offer to play basketball for Cochise College, said Patterson.

And of course there was that "fairy tale, hard-earned" state basketball championship with her teammates from Gallup High.

Spencer's basketball coaches also addressed the mourners. Assistant Coach Rhonda Ray compared Spencer to the eagles she had seen soaring in sky the day before and to angels, like the angels in the original drawing that illustrated the funeral program.

"She's touched us with her wings," said Ray. "She's soaring like an eagle, our little angel."

But perhaps one of the most emotional moments of the service was when John Lomasney, the tough basketball coach that Spencer once dreamed of playing for, addressed the crowd.

"I've been blessed and honored to coach Brooke," said Lomasney, who admitted he was a man of few words who struggled to find the right thing to say to the mourners.

Lomasney said Spencer overcame sickness early in the year and "went on to be the final piece to the puzzle" that allowed the Lady Bengals to recapture the state title. Spencer's jersey number, 41, will be retired, he announced, in a special ceremony in the fall.

"We love you Brooke," Lomasney said with emotion. "God bless you."

The service concluded with a family member encouraging the mourners to not lose sight of their belief in faith, love, peace, hope, and God. Many of the mourners fought back tears as family members sang a gospel song and Spencer's casket was carried from the church sanctuary.

Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.