'Thank you for answering his prayers': Yellowknife community remembers Mark Lynn

An elder held her hand against the casket as people shuffled by to get to their seats at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Yellowknife Saturday afternoon.

It had stopped raining about an hour earlier, but there was still an autumn chill in the air. Five men stood in one corner of the church, hugging their traditional drums close to their bodies, keeping them warm for the song they were about to perform.

Nearly every seat was filled in the church as Mark Lynn's casket was carried down the aisle, led by Bishop Mark Hagemoen.

"This is a difficult event to speak at," he said.

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The drummers wailed their song as Mark's family followed his casket and filed into the front rows of the pews.

Mark, 21, was last seen at a gathering in the lagoon area of Dettah, N.W.T., on Aug. 24.

RCMP and local searchers scoured the area for days, but struggled to remain hopeful.

Mark's father, Jim Lynn, had believed his son was "in heaven" before police confirmed his death.

On Thursday, four days after the search was called off, RCMP confirmed bone fragments were those of Mark.

"Thank you for answering Mark's prayers," Jim said during the service, adding that his son "spoke of suicide" for the past seven years, but felt that was not the right way for him to pass on.

Jim and Hagemoen continued to speak frankly about Mark's passing and the difficult life he lived.

"He was meant to live longer," Hagemoen said.

But he ended his words with hope; Mark may not be with us anymore, he said, but he is with God and that is the "light" during this "dark day."

Gerald Zoe remembered in Behchoko

That same day, Mark's friend Gerald Zoe was remembered at a service in Behchoko, N.W.T.

Several young people found Zoe's body floating in the water east of N'dilo, N.W.T., on Aug. 28, the same day Mark was reported missing.

"Any time there is a tragedy it certainly affects a lot of people. It affects the whole community because almost everyone knows each other," said N'dilo Chief Ernest Betsina at the time.

At Saturday's service, Jim said that the community is losing too many youth, people in the crowd nodding with his words.

Jim talked about Mark as "his own person" who loved his shoes and hats.

"He had more than most women," Jim said, making many in the crowd laugh.

Near the end of the service, Jim turned everyone's attention to the lyrics of a song they were about to sing.

"Think about what this means for you," he said.

The song reads:

"Sometimes when I'm feeling lonesome, and no one on earth seems to care...

"Just when it feels like it's hopeless and I'll never make it alone,

"I hear the voices of angels tenderly calling me home."