Funeral service celebrates life of MBTA train conductor, 24
Dozens of MBTA workers dressed in light blue shirts and navy pants lined the walls of the Mt. Olive Kingdom Builders Worship Center in Dorchester. Other uniformed employees were scattered among the seated congregation.
And outside, under the shade of the packed church, still more T employees gathered on the sidewalk to remember Ter'rese Keite Edmonds, a Green Line conductor killed Wednesday in a two-train crash.
"We're not supposed to go to work in the morning and not come back at night," Stephan MacDougall, president of the Boston Carmen's Union, Local 589, said at Edmonds's funeral yesterday.
Approximately 500 people attended the two-hour funeral, which began and ended in a boisterous fashion.
At noon, the Rev. Robert C. Perry II led a procession of clergy into the center. Speaking with a microphone in his hand, he roused the somber crowd by telling them the service would be a celebration of Edmonds's life.
Her sister, Tywana Harmon, followed Perry's invocation, singing a slow-moving song. And then many of Edmonds's relatives spoke, describing her as a young woman with a brilliant smile who loved her family and routinely committed acts of kindness.
Edmonds's seven brothers and sisters wore mostly white. Other mourners wore buttons or T-shirts that displayed a picture of Edmonds or a black ribbon.
One of her many friends who attended the service, Nicholas Washington, told the congregation: "If you didn't have a dollar, she would give you 10. I just want the family to know, you all did an excellent job raising her."
Washington returned to his seat and moments later let out a loud cry that echoed off the walls of the center. His sunglasses toppled off his face as two women consoled him. Several times he asked, "Why is she gone?"
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash on the Green Line in Newton that killed the 24-year-old conductor.
Edmonds's two-car train was heading outbound from Boston just before 6 p.m. near the end of the D Branch when it crashed into another two-car train that was emerging from a red signal just before Woodland Station. Edmonds was at the front of the rear train, which bore the brunt of the impact. About 180 to 200 passengers were aboard the trains, and several were seriously injured.
On Saturday, a federal transportation official said the train that rear-ended the other one was speeding at the time of the crash.
Councilor Charles C. Yancey told the mourners, "We know of the sacrifice that was made last week" in the death of a young woman on the job. While police, fire, and other officials are often thanked for their service, "we never say thank you to our transportation workers," Yance said.
He said the City Council will remember Edmonds when it adjourns its scheduled meeting tomorrow. Daniel A. Grabauskas, MBTA general manager, attended the service but did not comment.
In his eulogy, Perry urged the congregation to celebrate Edmonds's life, a suggestion that drew many in the crowd to their feet. A long line of mourners filed out of the church, where at least a dozen MBTA motorcycle officers were lined up in front.
A scholarship fund is being established at Roxbury Community College in Edmonds's name. She was pursuing an accounting degree.
