Loved Ones Remember Rosie

North Port, FL – A menorah stood at the end of the aisle leading to the front of the chapel, where a rabbi read Torah verses in both Hebrew and English.

Men donned yamalkas and women wore veils, customary in Jewish temples.

It was a traditional service — exactly as the family of Coralrose Fullwood, 6, said she would have wanted.

Coralrose, who was found slain Sept. 17 two blocks from her North Port home, was remembered Monday as a lively child who loved playing in the dirt — but always in a pretty dress.

“How am I going to remember her?” her father Dale Fullwood asked as he stood in front of 150 people. “She was the cute little girl who loved pink butterflies. She was the one to put on a pretty dress, and minutes later, be playing with the tadpoles in the dirt. If there was a hose, she was the first one to turn it on and make mud.”

Coralrose’s mother, Ellen Fullwood, clutched her mouth periodically as if to keep the sobs from escaping.

“We called her Rosie,” she said. “She had a red tint to her hair, and the name fit her personality. She was always happy, even when she was getting yelled at. She did what she wanted to do. She was just a joy. She was truly an angel here on Earth, and she went home.”

The little girl’s grandparents, aunts and two of her sisters also spoke, remembering her love of video games and her giving heart.

Coralrose would have been 7 in November.
The circumstances of her death were not lost on those attending.

Police continued to search for Coralrose’s killer Monday — eight days after her death. Authorities have checked dozens of leads.

Preliminary results of an autopsy revealed there was no sign of sexual assault, but a judge ordered her youngest siblings to undergo physical examinations.

Grandparents Saul and Doreen VanderWoude have temporary custody of the four children, ages 4 to 12, because of conditions in the home, which investigators with the Department of Children and Families told a judge was filthy.

Coralrose’s two youngest brothers were not at the service.

North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis and several detectives from the agency also attended the service, sitting in the back row. Lewis declined to comment at the service.

Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz reflected on the “dreadful atrocity” of a stolen young life.

“The question on everyone’s mind is why was this delightful, happy, healthy girl taken from this world?” he asked. “Why could this happen? Where is the God that would allow this to happen to an innocent child, and cause unimaginable heartbreak for her parents, siblings, grandparents and friends? As human beings, we can not begin to fathom the ways of God.”

Minkowicz continued with an explanation meant to comfort.

“Some souls are so holy and pure and so special, God doesn’t want to take the risk of them being corrupted,” he said. “Those souls are here for just a short time before returning to God. Coralrose was one of those. Innocent as the first spring blossom. As pure as the first snowflake of winter.”

Coralrose’s body was released to her family Thursday after the autopsy was completed so they could move forward with funeral plans. According to Jewish tradition, mourning can not begin until the body has been buried.

After singing psalms, attendants followed the family outside, where dirt was tossed symbolically on the tiny white casket, nestled inside a concrete vault.

Minkowicz said Coralrose’s body could not be immediately placed in the ground because of recent rain that has softened the dirt.

Tears overtook grandfather Saul VanderWoude as he spoke briefly.

“I am so sorry God took her away,” he said, “But I thank him every day for the six years we had together.”