Funeral services are scheduled this weekend for Fletcher Merkel, the 8-year-old boy who was one of two students killed during last week’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis.
Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, 5025 Knox Av. S. in Minneapolis, will host the proceedings starting with visitation at 2 p.m. Sunday, followed by services at 4 p.m., according to the obituary published in Wednesday’s Minnesota Star Tribune. The church will also carry the services on its livestream.
The obituary encourages attendees to “please wear bright colors” in the Minneapolis youngster’s memory. Family spokesman Blois Olson added that wearing black should be avoided.
In lieu of flowers, the obituary suggests donations be made online to the family.
Fletcher was “always in motion, dancing with every touchdown he scored in flag football, or playing basketball in the driveway with his older brother and neighborhood friends,” the obituary noted. “He was looking forward to going to his first Packers game at Lambeau Field this fall, with dreams of being an NFL player one day himself.”
While the services are open to the public, Olson said, the news media are asked to only access the service via the church’s live-stream.
“Cameras and recording devices are not allowed inside the church for this event,” he said.
Fletcher’s survivors include his parents, Mollie and Jesse, two brothers and a sister, and his dog, Clementine, the obituary read.
