Community says goodbye to Ledyard teen

Ledyard - The funeral of Matthew Buriak, the Ledyard High School junior who collapsed during a football game last weekend and died on Tuesday, drew hundreds to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Gales Ferry to mourn his death and celebrate his life on Saturday morning.

When Buriak's pastor, the Rev. Joseph DeCosta, spoke to students who gathered at Ledyard High School last Sunday night, he said that some good would come from the tragedy. But during his homily Saturday, which reflected on the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew, DeCosta said he had initially struggled to understand Buriak's untimely death.

"I had said to the students that I don't know why the Lord takes people so young," DeCosta said in his homily during Saturday's funeral Mass. "But I also said that some good would come, though then I did not know what kind."

When he learned from Buriak's parents, Leon and Roberta, that their son's organs would be donated to others in need, DeCosta said he saw God's work: A 12-year-old in New York would live with Buriak's lungs, his heart would go to someone else in New York, his pancreas would help someone in New Hampshire and his liver and kidneys would go on to help patients at Hartford Hospital.

"See what happens if we just take the time to look, listen," he said. "[God's work] is all around us."

It is unclear what caused Buriak to collapse last weekend, but his family has said doctors do not believe it was the result of sports-related trauma. No autopsy was performed.

After communion, Ledyard Superintendent of Schools Michael Graner said Buriak was among the school's greatest students.

"He personified everything that was right with our school and with our town," Graner said.

Then Graner sat on a stool at the front of the church and picked up his guitar. He played "Puff the Magic Dragon," a folk song about the end of youthful innocence.

"The song is really about lost childhood, about how a child grows up and leaves his childhood behind," Graner said. "And as I've grown up and sang it to my children and to my grandchildren, I realized its lesson: don't ever give up on the dreams, the joy and the beauty of childhood."

Buriak's older sister, Melissa Buriak, delivered a heartfelt eulogy that began by drawing laughs from the somber congregation.

"As Matt's sister, I wanted to have the last word," she said.

Melissa Buriak said she had spent much of the past week exchanging stories about her brother. Those memories, she said, made her happy that her brother had a good life, even though it lasted just 16 years.

"I have never been an optimist until now, but he always was," she said. "I want to make sure everyone leaves here today not sorrowful for the loss of a friend and a brother, but joyful because he lived so well for 16 years."

After the funeral Mass ended, the assembly moved to Avery Stoddard Cemetery, where Matthew was buried. Four school buses, each marked with the number 23 - the number on Buriak's football jersey - helped shuttle the crowds.

At the cemetery, friends and family distributed hundreds of white carnations, which people left on Buriak's casket as they said their final goodbyes. After the Buriak family left, the Ledyard High School football team joined hands and formed a horseshoe around the burial plot, on the southern edge of the cemetery along Route 214.

"We lost a brother, a teammate, one hell of a kid," said Jacob Jablonski, a former Ledyard football player who graduated last year. "He will always be in our heart. Play every play like it's your last because Matt played his last. ... He taught us to be the best we could be. All Matt wanted was to be the best he could be, and he lived up to that."

The day included elements from many facets of Buriak's life. The high school chorus sang several times during the Mass, his football teammates were pallbearers and family photos were on display at the back of the church and during the reception. Many people wore Ledyard's school colors, blue and gold, as a way to honor Buriak.

At a reception following the burial, Leon Buriak said he was proud his son touched so many people during his life.

"As you can see by all the people here, he really was one special kid," he said.