JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A nun who used to teach at Assumption Catholic School in Jacksonville and died in the April 16 earthquake in Ecuador was buried Monday in her hometown in Ireland.
Sister Clare Crockett taught at Assumption for four years before moving to Spain, and then Ecuador to teach.
Crockett, 33, was killed along with five other pre-novices for the Home of the Mother as she attempted to lead them out of a crumbling structure, said Father Fred Parke.
Recommended Videos
Parishioners at Assumption Catholic Church and families involved with Assumption School spent last Monday evening celebrating the good Crockett did in her short life.
A week later she was laid to rest in her hometown of Derry, Ireland.
According to the Derry Daily news website, hundreds of mourners followed Crockett's remains as they were taken from her home to St. Columbia's Church in Long Tower, Brandywell. Several hundred more mourners gather outside the church awaiting her remains for the Requiem Mass at noon.
“Like Jesus, she died young -- and because of Jesus we believe that a life given in loving sacrifice is never wasted,” Bishop Donal McKeown said during the mass.
Crockett left a career in movies and the world of entertainment to follow Christ at the age of 18. She traveled the world teaching children.
“Her life and death have posed questions for many of her contemporaries – what is worthwhile doing in life, what makes a beautiful person, who we want to have as our idols?” McKeown said.
Following the mass, Crockett was laid to rest in the city cemetery.