Hundreds Turn Out for Train Derailment Victims' Funerals

Approximately 1,200 people gathered for funerals over the weekend to remember Elizabeth Conway Nass and Rose Louese Mayr, the two 19-year-olds killed in the Ellicott City train derailment, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The funeral for Nass was 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the in Ellicott City, where a flower arrangement of white and pink roses in the shape of a peace sign met guests at the entrance, reported The Baltimore Sun.

Nass had been studying at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, where the she was an honors student majoring in interdisciplinary liberal studies. Nass planned to teach special education and was a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, reported The Baltimore Sun.

The president of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority told WUSA channel 9 that Nass had a “contagious smile” and “bubbly energy. She really lit up a room."

A poster outside the sorority house paid tribute to Nass as students arrived on campus, stating, “Remember you always Liz Nass, alpha, forever a sister, love,” according to an ABC affiliate station in Virginia.

Nass and Mayr, both of Ellicott City, had been friends since elementary school, according to The Baltimore Sun. They were preparing for their junior years of college to begin this week before they were killed in a 21-car derailment over Ellicott City's Main Street that spilled coal on top of them around 11:56 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 20.

The funeral for Mayr occurred Saturday morning at Bethany Lutheran Church in Ellicott City. Approximately 500 people turned out for the 11 a.m. service, according to The Baltimore Sun, where Mayr's older sister, Anna, delivered the eulogy.

"She was my Rose, my flower, someone who would brighten up the room," said Anna Mayr, according to the Sun. "She was so full of joy, so easygoing, a free spirit."

Mayr planned to start her junior year at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE, this week. She was a nursing major, according to university officials.

"I loved how her eyes smiled as she was practicing her health assessment skills with the other students in the class," Assistant Professor Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, who taught Mayr, told UDaily, a University of Delaware publication. "She was sweet, kind and gentle. She will be missed by all."

One of those people, according to UDaily, was her roommate, University of Delaware junior Jill Booth.

"Rose Mayr was a person you meet once in a lifetime and someone who could change your life in an instant," Booth told UDaily. "Her spirit was captivating and her personality unforgettable....Our sweet Rose will always be in my heart."

Saturday's memorial service concluded with a videotaped dance performance from Mayr's high school days projected onto the church wall, reported The Baltimore Sun.

Nass and Mayr graduated from Mount Hebron High School in 2010, where they were both involved in dance, reported the Howard County Times.

Mount Hebron Principal Scott Ruehl described Nass and Mayr as “great students, great people” whose deaths were a "tragic loss for not just Mount Hebron and the families but the whole community, because they're such great kids,” reported the Howard County Times.

There is a memorial fund for Rose Mayr through Howard County General Hospital.

Twitter memorials:

Alpha Sigma Alpha ‏@JMU_ASA
May angels lead you in...gone but never forgotten ❤ RIP our dear sister, Elizabeth Nass.

Caitlin Moynihan ‏@cmmoynihan
In memory of Rose Louese Mayr. November 5, 1992- August 21, 2012. http://instagr.am/p/OwSJBUNlAw/ 

Howard Co Fire & EMS ‏@HCDFRS
Our deepest sympathy is with the families of Elizabeth Nass and Rose Mayr - we offer our heartfelt condolences

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