Family members and friends gathered Nov. 8 at First Baptist Church of Ocala for services to honor 18-year-old Shannon Rushing, who died Oct. 27 after she was struck while walking on a northwest Ocala roadway.
Rev. Eric Cummings, pastor of New Zion Baptist Church and vice-chair of the Marion County School Board, gave an invocation and delivered words of comfort. Cummings suggested that family and friends “worship while we weep” and spoke of Shannon’s “impact on all our lives.”
Shannon’s brothers, Christopher Rushing and Johnathan Akins, read lines of Old Testament and New Testament scripture. They also shared reflections of their sister, including that she was “full of joy,” would often ask to “take a picture” and aspired to be a math teacher.
Shannon attended Howard Middle School and was a senior at Forest High School. About half of the several hundred guests at the ceremony stood up to acknowledge they were part of her “school family.”…