(BOSTON HERALD) — Hundreds of mourners, many of them children, poured through the doors of St. Augustine Parish in Andover this afternoon to pay their respects to slain Danvers High School math teacher Colleen Ritzer.
The church, where Ritzer, 24, served as a communicant, opened its doors for Ritzer’s wake a half hour earlier than planned to accommodate the crowds, its staircase lined with bouquets of pink carnations and ribbons.
And it is here where the 2007 Andover High graduate’s funeral Mass will take place tomorrow morning at 10. Authorities cautioned streets in the immediate area will be closed to traffic by 8:15 a.m.
Caroline Rufo, Ritzer’s roommate during her junior and senior years at Assumption College, said she was overwhelmed by today’s turnout.