600 celebrate brief, bright life of Brielle

As the child's pink coffin was lowered into the ground in the shadow of the Mustang Mountains, it was impossible not to picture her just days ago, splendid in a silver-trimmed pink cowboy hat, smiling and waving and joyous as she rode her gray pony in Tucson's Rodeo Parade.

It is a vision that exploded in only seconds, as horses pulling a wagon behind Brielle bolted, slamming into her pony, throwing her onto the road and under the wagon's heavy wheels.

As Tucson mourns the shocking loss of this 5-year-old girl, nearly 600 people packed into a standing-room-only celebration of her life in her hometown of Sonoita, trying to say goodbye and find comfort in each other.

"There is no pain that is so deep on this Earth that heaven cannot take care of," said Marc Hill, pastor of the Skyline Baptist Church in Benson and a close friend of the Boisverts.

"Dear God, we praise you for the life of this beautiful, beautiful child."

Music and tears flowed through the meeting hall at the Sonoita fairgrounds, festooned in Brielle's favorite color — pink — and draped with balloons, flowers and photos of the always smiling, incredibly pretty little girl. Early in the service, her heartbroken father, Tom, tried to soothe and thank the people in the hall and back in Tucson for their "outpouring of love."

"Oh my gosh," he said, looking at the crowd jamming every inch of the inside space and spilling outside onto the fairgrounds, including many who never met Brielle.

"Something very special has been taken from my life, my family. Nothing will ever replace Brielle …" he said in a broken voice.

"But I want to say thank you for all the love, all the prayers, all the support from this great community. You've given us a chance to mourn, and to begin the healing process."

Minutes later, Brielle's own sweet voice filled the room, as she sang her favorite song — "How Far Is Heaven" — in a recording made with her sister, Brooke, 11, her twin brother Braden, and her baby brother Brody, 4, while their father played guitar.

During the song, Tom Boisvert gathered his wife, Donnell, and three children to him, to sit in front of the pictures of Brielle and the family flashing on a large screen.

Giving insights into Brielle, her uncle, Karl Kimsey, told how she'd jump from her play to hug anyone who walked in the room, then go right back to playing. How she and her siblings and mom one morning greeted a sleepy, grumpy aunt in the kitchen, singing and dancing "Good morning to you!" How she once wrote in her prayer book: "Dear God, I love you. Please send the rain. Amen, in Jesus' name." How at Christmas, she got into a tug-of-war with the neighbor's pit bull terrier over her new Cabbage Patch doll — and won.

"Here was this little bitty girl who made any adult feel like the most important person in the world. … What a gift," he said.

But throughout the joyful memories of Brielle ran a streak of pure grief, as many struggled to understand and accept such a death.

"We pray for peace in this family. … God has asked much from them," said Steve Lindsey, pastor of the Cowboy Canelo Church, which he founded with the Boisverts' help.

In the days following Brielle's death, her father did ask "why," Lindsey said. And they talked of the biblical story of Job, who lost everything, but remained trusting and faithful to God.

Although Brielle's mother did not speak at the service, Lindsey read a prayer she had written in her journal the day before the parade. It sent a low gasp through the mourners.

"In Jesus' name, keep us safe tomorrow in all that we have to do," she'd written.

Among the mourners on Tuesday was a large contingent from the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee, paramedics, the U.S. Border Patrol and the military, with representatives from Fort Huachuca and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

"It was deeply felt by everyone, the presence of Brielle at the service today," said Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, who attended with has wife, Beth. "There are a lot of Tucson people here who care about the rodeo, who care about the family, and wanted to say we remember and we care."

Although Alex Jacome — the son of one of Tucson's pioneer families who has often ridden in the parade — sat with the Rodeo Parade group at the service, that was not why he went.

"Thirty years ago, I buried a little 5-year old boy. It's one of those things you never get over," he said. "I was just hoping my presence in some way helps them."

Now buried in the peaceful Sonoita grasslands, embraced by Southern Arizona's magnificent mountains, Brielle Boisvert lies in a small, unnamed cemetery. Nearby, horses she so loved graze in the fields, as if to keep her company.

"Brielle stepped into heaven pure and holy," said Lindsey, her pastor, "and is now in the arms of her Savior."

"Something very special has been taken from my life, my family. Nothing will ever replace Brielle..."

Tom Boisvert, Brielle's father