"So many things we don't have control over," the Rev. Karen Karpow told WFSB. "This is one of those things, and something like this points out we have way less control over things than we think we do."

"We will be remembering, imagining, praying. It's going to be hard," she added.

Funerals for five victims were scheduled for Friday: school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56; Rachel D'Avino, 29; Grace McDonnell, 7; Olivia Engel, 6; and Dylan Hockley, 6.

More than 2,200 miles west of Newtown, in Ogden, Utah, the hometown of shooting victim Emilie Parker was festooned Thursday with pink ribbons as her parents brought her body back for burial.

"This sucks. There's no reason for us to be here tonight," her father, Robbie Parker, told friends and well-wishers at a memorial service Thursday night. "And I'm so thankful for everybody that's here."

His voice trailed off as he struggled for composure. Seeing the pink -- his daughter's favorite color -- made him and his wife, Alissa, "feel like we were getting a big hug from everybody."

A funeral for Emilie Parker is scheduled for Saturday in Ogden.

Funerals also are scheduled Saturday in Connecticut for Ana Marquez-Greene, 6, and Josephine Gay, 7.

Three 6-year-olds were among those buried Thursday: Allison Wyatt, who loved to draw and wanted to be an artist; Benjamin Wheeler, who loved the Beatles; and red-haired Catherine Hubbard, who loved animals.

Also buried Thursday, at an undisclosed location, was Nancy Lanza, the shooter's mother, said Donald Briggs, a friend of the family who grew up with her in Kingston, New Hampshire.

Plans had not been finalized for the burial of the gunman, her son Adam.