As Chris Williams prayed at the graveside of his wife and two children Saturday afternoon, he declared, "All is well."
Williams' wife Michelle, 41, son Ben, 11, and daughter Anna, 9, as well as an unborn son Michelle was carrying, were laid to rest Saturday, the victims of a Feb. 9 car accident. A 17-year-old has been charged with automobile homicide in the incident.
Another son, 6-year-old Sam, was in Primary Children's Medical Center with broken bones and a brain injury. The hospital reported he was in fair condition Saturday, and the family expects him to be released today.
But despite the loss, Chris Williams, a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his son Michael, 14, have suffered, in his graveside dedication prayer Williams asked in a clear voice that the community be granted "the peace that we feel."
Mourners packed the Salt Lake City Highland LDS Stake Center for the funeral Saturday, where Michelle was remembered as a dedicated mother, Ben as a showman with a heart of gold and Anna as a shy but silly "little angel."
Michelle Williams' younger brother, C.J. Dorny, said his sister got practice to become "the future world's best mother" as a nurturing sister, eight years his senior.
When their oldest brother drowned and Dorny, then 4 years old, struggled to understand, Michelle "sweetly and reassuringly" explained to him the LDS view of eternal families.
And when he learned a swear word from some neighborhood children, it was Michelle who grabbed him by the arm and washed his mouth out with soap.
"She was so upbeat and enthusiastic," he said. "She truly was a perfect wife and a perfect mother." The home she made for her family was "the most noisy peaceful place on Earth."
Matthew Dorny, another brother of Michelle's, read a letter a grade-school friend had written after learning of Michelle's death. The girl, a non-LDS transplant to Utah, struggled to fit in with her largely Mormon peer group. The woman now remembers Michelle as the student who welcomed her with open arms.
"She is the best example of a true Christian I can think of," the letter read.
Family members spoke of Ben Williams as an entertainer and goofball with a caring, sensitive side. Matthew Dorny said Ben was "always the life of the party."
He started life quietly, his only verbal communication before age 2 1/2 a grunt. Instead, he began acting things out, showing family that he had fallen and hurt himself by re-enacting the incident. That flair for the dramatic stayed with him all his life.
"He was always in costume," Chris Williams wrote of his son in thoughts read by C.J. Dorny. "The world was truly a stage, and he was always in its spotlight."
C.J. Dorny said Ben "took after Michelle's fun-loving side," but he was also very sensitive, keenly aware when someone was hurting or needed help.
"Michelle told me many times what a special and thoughtful son Ben was," C.J. Dorny said. "For someone that always played class clown, he was very sensitive."
Anna Williams, family members said, had begun developing her maternal instincts from the beginning. As a toddler, she not only played with dolls but would also swaddle toys, flower and rocks and carry them around gently.
C.J. Dorny's 3-year-old daughter Jane lived to play with her older cousin. "Anna is the center of Jane's universe," he said. "It always touched my wife and me how sweetly Anna would treat an opinionated and sometimes bossy 3-year-old."
Anna looked forward anxiously to Michelle's due date in May — even after she learned, to her disappointment, that the baby was to be another brother.
"Although she was quiet on the outside, she was very silly," Matthew Dorny said. In school, she invented "fuzzy baloopas" — chalkboard erasers with wings, a tail and eyes — and soon her whole class wanted one. She also invented games and gave them names like Mustard Blood.
The accident occurred on the night of Feb. 9 as Chris Williams drove his family on 2000 East near 2500 South. Williams saw a vehicle coming at him on the wrong side of the road and attempted to avoid the crash, but the other vehicle swerved into him, court documents report.
The 17-year-old Skyline High School student who police say was driving is believed to have had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15. He was charged in 3rd District Court on Thursday with four counts of second-degree felony automobile homicide, one for each victim including the unborn baby.
He was also charged with third-degree felony driving under the influence resulting in a serious injury, misdemeanor DUI resulting in an injury, misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident and misdemeanor possession of alcohol by a minor.
Prosecutors have filed a motion seeking to have the teen tried as an adult.
In the days after the accident, Chris Williams spoke to the media offering unconditional forgiveness to the teen.
And at Saturday's funeral, Elder Jon M. Huntsman of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Seventies said of the suspect's family: "We ask our Heavenly Father's blessings to be with this good family. Bishop Williams, thank you for your example of forgiveness."
A fund to help the Williams family with funeral and medical costs has been established at all Zions Bank locations.
E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com