WEST BRIGHTON — The bullied 13-year-old boy who hanged himself in the attic of his Staten Island home last week was as an angel and the glue that held his family together, his relatives said at his funeral Wednesday.
Daniel Fitzpatrick lay in a brown casket covered in a cream-colored cloth at the front of West Brighton's Sacred Heart R.C. Church.
"He touched all of our hearts," his devastated mother, Maureen Fitzpatrick, told about 400 mourners.
"He was the purest of hearts. He was kind, he was gentle, he was personable, he was funny, handsome, with the most beautiful smile.
"I just want to thank God for giving me the gift to be able to give birth to such a beautiful angel."
Fitzpatrick was discovered by his sister with a belt around his neck in the attic of his house last Thursday, according to reports.
The boy left behind a heart-wrenching note detailing how he’d been picked on at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Brooklyn by a group of bullies for months as administrators failed to intervene.
After his death, his family launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral costs. As of early Wednesday, it had received more than $120,000 in contributions.
They plan to use the excess to fund charities dedicated to combating bullying.
His sister Eileen Fitzpatrick called her brother "the center of our world" during the services.
"This sweet, loving, fun-to-be around person was the most amazing part of our lives," she said.
"He was the glue to our family. He was better than anyone we knew and anyone we will ever know."
Inside the church, Bishop John O'Hara urged those in attendance to remember Fitzpatrick for how he lived and told relatives they will one day get to see him again.
“Daniel is a sacred person, a loving person," O'Hara said. "Jesus understands his pain in a way we can't even begin to comprehend."
In a rare moment of humor, O'Hara also told a story of how Fitzpatrick developed a crush on a waitress at an local restaurant the family frequented.
"He turned to mom and dad and said, 'She's beautiful! Would it be OK if I gave her some flowers?'" he said.
When Fitzpatrick finally got a chance to see the waitress again, O'Hara said he seized the opportunity — and received a gift he'd never forget.
"He got a kiss from the waitress," he said. "I'm sure he blushed from here to Timbuktu."
As the funeral drew to a close, Maureen Fitzpatrick made one last appeal.
"I pray that his soul is at peace," she said, "and the darkness that was inflicted on him by others and caused him so much pain and sorrow is gone."
