Photo displays of Angel, Demetris, Davida, Deontay, D’Angelo and Faith Smith adorned the hallway and main ballroom of the Century Center on Monday.
Community members stopped and signed their names as a show of solidarity with the family who lost everything on Jan. 21 when a fire ripped through a home near downtown South Bend.
As dozens of community members gathered to remember the Smith children local leaders and pastors attempted to make sense of the tragedy.
“Gifts can come out of grief. Strength can come out of struggles. And if you acknowledge Him, He will direct your path,” said pastor Diona Jones, who urged the community in her eulogy to trust in God, even if his plans are difficult to understand at times.
Former South Bend police officer and community leader Lynn Coleman said there’s already been some good to come out of the horrible tragedy.
“They’ve done things in their short lifespan that many of us have been working for many years and been unable to do,” Coleman said. “They’ve brought people together. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian. Old, young, rich, poor. They’ve connected people that would never have talked to each other.”
Others, including Sharon McBride, who spoke on behalf of the South Bend Common Council, reflected on the immensity of the loss the whole community suffered.
“Sunday, January 21 will forever be etched in our minds and in our hearts,” McBride said. “On this day, the Smith family and our community suffered a tremendous loss. Tragedy struck our entire community. Losing one child is an unimaginable pain that no parent should have to endure. The loss of six innocent children in the single deadliest fire our city has seen in a century is beyond words.”
But Monday’s service brought some joyful moments as well, as when Bishop William Jones offered up a song or when teachers at the Madison STEAM Academy or Navarre Middle School told stories about Demetris and Davida.
Meanwhile, fire department officials have not yet stated the cause of the fire that devastated the home on North LaPorte Avenue where the Smiths lived. The blaze quickly engulfed the building as arriving firefighters unsuccessfully attempted to save the children trapped on the upper floors.
Per a report from the South Bend Tribune, the rental building where the family lived had failed a federal inspection about 6 months prior to the fire which found pervasive electrical problems throughout the house.
Though as South Bend Mayor James Mueller said during Monday’s service, no answer will be adequate to replace the lives of the six Smith children.
“It’s hard for us to even fathom how this could happen. Why this could happen? We all want answers for what happened. How could this be prevented so it never happens again,” Mueller said. “Hopefully we get those answers in the coming days. But there’s no answer that’s going to be adequate when you lose children.”
