The cold weather may have shut down school Thursday, but it didn't stop the more than 500 family, friends and teachers of a Burlington sixth-grader from filling the auditorium at Aldo Leopold Middle School to celebrate his life.
Michael Davis Jr., 12, was killed Dec. 24 in a car accident outside Geneseo, Illinois. His body lay in a casket next to the stage — flanked by photos showcasing the smile for which he was so well known — in the center of the auditorium of the school where he would happily greet Principal Mark Yeoman and ask about his day.
As funeral-goers stopped by the casket to pay their respects ahead of the service, a row of teary-eyed Little Grayhound football players, wearing either team jerseys or sweatshirts with pictures of their friend printed on them, along with the word "BROTHER" across the top on the back, readied themselves to do the same.
Not all of them went at once, but none of them went alone.
"They're brothers. That whole team, brothers with one sister," said head football coach Corey Davis, who, along with football coach Ephraim Twillie and assistant coach Kevin Johnston, officiated the service.
After the funeral began, Rafe Butherus, 11, and the rest of the team gathered on stage.
"Now that he isn't here," Burtherus began, pausing to choke back tears. "Now that he isn't here anymore, it just makes me sad. He really will be truly missed."
The team then circled in for one last huddle and chant with their brother, starting the chant the team came up with early on in the year with "We hit the field" and ending with "One. Two. Three. Michael!"
Many of the teammates, like Xzavion Baker, 11, had known Davis since kindergarten. Baker recalled a day in kindergarten when he asked Davis if he was trying to be his friend, to which he indicated he was. From that moment on, the two hit it off.
"Its gonna be hard without him," Baker said. "If we were down, he would bring us back up."
Numerous people, three of whom have the same birthday as Davis, shared memories of him throughout the service. Among those memories were his love for all things Spider-man, the time he insisted on talking to a girl's father before asking her to a movie and the time he got angry, ran out the front door and came around to the back, telling his grandmother his name was Jeffrey and asking if anyone wanted to play Monopoly.
What was spoken of most, however, was his smile, high energy, dependability and respectful attitude.
Coach Davis recalled how, when he was yelling at the team, as coaches often do, young Davis would say thank you. Tim Cradic, the principal at North Hill Elementary School, where Davis was a student from kindergarten through fifth grade, spoke of the boy's eagerness to help.
About a dozen of North Hill's Man Club members attended a cookout at Cradic's house at the end of last school year to celebrate their manliness. While most of the boys were being wild and rambunctious, Davis was asking Cradic's wife what he could do to help out.
Throughout the service, people praised his parents, Michael Davis Sr. and LaToya Cole, for having raised him to be who he was.
Michael Davis Jr. touched the lives of many, including Mayor Shane McCampbell, who met him while visiting North Hill Elementary.
"I can't remember my kids' birthdays, but I remember your son," McCampbell said, looking at Michael Davis Sr. and Cole. "The whole city is mourning with you. We're grateful to you for bringing him to Burlington and sharing him with us."
Superintendent Pat Coen had some words to share as well. Pushing the microphone aside, Coen looked to the audience.
"Michael's not gone. He's living inside of you," his voice boomed.
Coen, who met Davis Jr. when visiting North Hill's Man Club, presented his parents each with a Burlington School District coin so they will always be reminded of the impact their son had on the school district.
"He is not gone," he reiterated.
Gongs rang out from the Little Grayhounds' victory bell after the service as people filed out of the auditorium, each ringing the bell one last time for Michael Davis Jr.