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A priest presiding at the first funeral for a...

By FRANK RYAN

LOCKERBIE, Scotland -- A priest presiding at the first funeral for a Lockerbie villager killed in the Pan Am jumbo jet crash prayed Thursday that the 10-year-old girl would be 'happy in heaven' with her parents, who also died in the tragedy.

Joanne Flannigan, who with her parents was among 11 Lockerbie residents killed when Flight 103 crashed on their house Dec. 21, was buried at Dryfesdale cemetery in a plot prepared as a mass grave.

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Her brothers, Steven, 14, and David, 19, her grandparents and other relatives were among the scores of mourners who attended the service in a driving rain, the first for a Lockerbie resident since the Pan Am jumbo jet crashed after a bomb exploded on board. All 259 people aboard and 11 residents were killed.

Two wreaths were placed on the pine coffin, one from her brothers - Steven, who escaped unharmed because he was in a neighbor's garage patching her punctured bicycle tire, and David, who lives in Blackpool, England, about 100 miles southwest of Lockerbie. The other wreath was from relatives.

The Rev. Patrick Keegans, a Catholic parish priest and neighbor whose home also was damaged in the crash, celebrated the mass at Holy Trinity Church where the body was taken Wednesday night.

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Keegans told the packed congregation in his sermon 'we are here to mourn and we are torn apart' by the bombing of the Boeing 747.

'We cannot sweep death under the carpet and make believe everything is sweetness and light,' he said. 'It is a harsh reality and a bitter one in normal circumstances. In these circumstances it is almost unbearable and unbelievable.

'We pray that Joanne and her parents might be together and happy in heaven,' he said.

There also were flowers from the girl's pen pal, Emma Jones, and a wreath from a neighbor that read, 'to Joanne, little sister of Steven Flannigan, who so kindly gave me his jacket to keep me warm on that awful night.'

A few hours later, services were held at the All Saints Episcopal Church for another resident who died, Mary Lancaster, 81, and the burial of resident Jack Somerville, 41, was scheduled for Friday. The bodies of the other eight residents, including Joanne Flannigan's parents, were not expected to be found.

Wednesday, hundreds of mourners attended a memorial service in Dryfesdale Parish Church for all the victims of Britain's worst air disaster.

About 700 mourners, including Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, U.S. Ambassador to Britain Charles Price, Pan Am employees and relatives of victims packed the church for the service televised live across Britain and parts of the United States.

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The Rev. James Whyte, head of the Church of Scotland, told mourners there should be no retaliation for the crash should investigators determine who planted the bomb aboard the aircraft.

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