Photo by Aubrey Levin

Friends and family sign the coffins of Alex and Jackie Berman as their final form of reverence.

In contrast to the white worn at the commemoration of strings junior Alex Berman and strings sophomore Jackie Berman earlier in the week, friends, family and supporters were draped in black  for the funeral service to honor the two Dreyfoos School of the Arts students.
As people entered the Temple and filed in down the aisles, they were given the opportunity to write a message to the Bermans on their caskets. Each casket was graced with a bouquet of roses: pink for Jackie and white for Alex. The lids were coated in black ink, each message a separate memory, wish or apology.
“It was a beautiful service and so sad at the same time,” Alexandre Marques said. “Everyone is so heartbroken, but you could feel the love and happiness that Alex and Jackie brought into everyone they came in contact with.”
Mr. Marques’ daughter, vocal junior Sophia Marques, performed alongside band junior Beni Salvia in “Collision Course,” an original song written by Alex Berman. Strings junior Vince Moore, strings sophomore Josh Ewers and strings junior David Esposito accompanied them on the bass, drums and guitar, respectively.
Music was the main component throughout the service. It began with a piece by a professional string quartet that included Alex and Jackie’s prior music teachers. A second quartet followed in which strings senior Ericsson Hatfield and strings senior Javier Otalora played the violin, strings senior Stephanie Carrejo on the viola and strings junior Roey Dushi played cello.
“Both Jackie and Alex had bright futures ahead of them, but we must remember they are in the brightest of places,” strings sophomore Juliet Schreiber said.
Friends and family had the opportunity to speak in front of the audience, which brimmed with hundreds of people who came to remember the two teenagers.
“[Alex] truly cared about his friends,” Salvia said. “All I can hope for is that one day I’ll see him again and he’ll be waiting for me with open arms.”
Humor laced many memories and eulogies told by Jackie and Alex’s friends. Their sense of humor lived on through stories of photo bombing and sliding down the stairs in a laundry basket.
“Jackie was beyond amazing and so hilarious,” strings sophomore Kristen Janos said. “It is a terrible feeling to know I won’t see her again. In my heart, I know she’ll be watching us forever.”
After all of the music was played, eulogies spoken and memories shared, the service was concluded with a prayer chanted in Hebrew then spoken in English by Chazzan David Feuer, the father of communications junior Matt Feuer.
“Our lives are not defined by how they end,” Rabbi Cookie Lea Olshein said. “We are all so much more than we appear to be on the surface.”