The members of the Kologi family who were killed inside their home on New Year's Eve had a way of bringing people in the community together, said a priest who eulogized them at their funeral Mass.
That was evident Monday morning, he said, as St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church on Ocean Avenue in Long Branch was packed with hundreds of mourners who paid their respects to Steven, Linda and Brittany Kologi, a family that was "good in every category that counts."
"I use those words, drawn together, very purposely, very intentionally, because I can tell you with complete certainty ... this very special mother, father and daughter had that rare and priceless blessing ... that gift to draw people together," said Father John Butler.
"I've heard this so many times from so many people: simple, ordinary, down to earth, modest people -- in every good and positive sense of that phrase," Butler continued. "Good people, good family, good friends, good neighbors. Good period."
He said Steven Kologi, 44, was a "guy you would want to have on your team."
"A good husband, good provider, good friend," he said. "A big guy, athletic guy ... hard-working and a Yankee fan, maybe his only shortcoming," Butler, who is a Mets fan, quipped, drawing a chuckle from the people sitting in the pews.
Linda Kologi, 42, was remembered as a "devoted mother" whose "whole life was for her children," Butler said.
"Her calling in life was motherhood," he said. "Even her birthday, once in a while, would fall on Mother's Day. She was consistently kind and caring to family and friends alike."
Her only daughter, 18-year-old Brittany Kologi, was a hard-worker just like her parents, Butler said. She was an honors student at Long Branch High School and was in her freshman year at Stockton University in Galloway.
Her childhood friend, Shannon Nutley, wrote in the funeral program that Brittany Kologi "lit up a room and she lit up my life like any friend I could ever ask for."
"There is no single word to describe the kind of person Brittany was because she was so many things," Nutley wrote. "She was silly, hilarious and ridiculous in the best way. Everyone had something good to say when they were talking about Brittany."
The closed caskets of the Kologi family, each draped in white cloth, were stacked in the middle of the aisle near the altar. Friends and family sat in two rows of pews beside the caskets. The front of the altar was still covered in poinsettias from Christmas Mass.
As the hour-long funeral came to an end, each casket was wheeled to the front doors of the church. After the cloths were removed, a priest sprinkled the caskets with holy water, before they exited the church. The ocean could be seen in the distance in between buildings on Ocean Avenue as the doors opened.
No members of the Kologi family spoke at the funeral service.
Steven and Linda's surviving son, Steven Kologi Jr., held up a picture of his father as he walked down the aisle at the end of the service. Linda Kologi's oldest son, Jonathon Ruiz, held a picture of his mother.
Steven Kologi Jr., his grandfather, Adrian Kologi, and a family friend were able to escape the family's Wall Street home unharmed shortly before midnight on Dec. 31. A friend of the Kologi family, Mary Schulz, 70, was also gunned down inside the home. A funeral for Schulz was held Saturday at St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church in West Long Branch.
Steven and Linda's other son, a 16-year-old boy who authorities have never identified, is accused of shooting his parents and sister to death with a semi-automatic gun that was legally owned by another resident of the home, authorities said. The obituaries for his parents list the son's name as Scott Kologi.
He was charged with four counts of murder and weapons offenses and remains in a youth detention facility in Middlesex County.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.