SILVERTON – A light rain fell over Silverton just before the memorial service for Jessica McFarland began Sunday afternoon in the Silverton School Gymnasium. The dirt roads in town were wet, trees bright green in the short, new summer.

Nearly two hundred people paid their respects to the young mother of two who was found near death in her home in Silverton in the early-morning hours of June 6.

Her husband, Michael McFarland, is charged with second-degree murder.

Linda Davis, McFarland’s mother, greeted familiar visitors as they flooded in. Friends waited in turn to show affection. Some hugs lasted longer than others – many didn’t want to let go.

A few bouquets of flowers were set on tables, and photographs of McFarland revealed her smile. Near a podium, two tall vases of flowers surrounded an image of her, comfortable and happy, resting her chin on her hands.

Davis worked to control her grief as she spoke.

“Thank you all for coming. I’ll give this a shot and see how far I get,” she said.

“Although a short journey, she left an everlasting impact on everyone she touched, as shown by the turn out here today,” she said.

Her enthusiasm for life itself was contagious,” she said. “Her energy was unmatched, but the essence of Jessica was her love and devotion to her children and her family.”

Davis paused to collect herself, speaking words of a grieving mother.

She said her daughter put her education in nursing aside to raise her children.

“She was dedicated to schoolwork, sports, after-school and family activities, be it camping, hunting fishing or just a swim at the hot springs. Jessica loved her boys like no other and was one of the most devoted, caring mothers I’ve ever known.”

She said her daughter was humble.

“Jessica never thought she did enough,” Davis said. “And never quit trying to do more. Her friends were her family, her boys were her lifeline, and her sisters and I were her haven.”

She was love, her mother said.

“I cannot even begin to understand or heal the hole left in all of us by her passing,” she said.

In closing, she asked for a moment of silence, then a family friend sang an unembellished “Amazing Grace” accented with western guitar.

Davis asked that grievers write thoughts and memories on cards and place them in a chest that was meant for McFarland’s children, then, once outside, release a balloon in honor of her daughter.

“That’s all I can do,” she said and took a breath.

Subtle thunder rolled while a close mountain community said goodbye.

bmathis@durangoherald.com