Brendan Burke, 21, who died along with his friend Mark Reedy last Friday when the car he was driving slid into another vehicle, was laid to rest today.
Burke was the son of Toronto Maple Leafs coach Brian Burke. They made headlines last year because of a touching article that related how Brendan told his father he was gay.
The AP reports: "Many mourners stood for the Mass inside the packed St. John The Evangelist Church. Among those who attended were staff and players from Miami, wearing their red jerseys with white letters and numbers, and staff and players from the Maple Leafs. Also there were NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, New Jersey Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello, Edmonton Oilers coach Pat Quinn and Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein."
Said Burke's brother Patrick: "From birth, he had an unshakable faith in the genuine good that resides
in all people. Along with
that faith is hope, hope that he could bring that good out from inside
of people and into the world by being open, caring and kind to everyone
he met."