Friends and Family Remember Elizabeth Lynch-Gonzalez who Leapt to her Death Last Week

It was quiet at the Clark Funeral Home yesterday where family and friends hugged and sobbed on each other's shoulders. They barely spoke as they waited in line to walk up to the flag-draped open casket of Army Private Elizabeth Lynch-Gonzalez, who jumped off the Tappan Zee Bridge last Thursday.

Hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects and share grief over the 2009 Lakeland graduate. Friends and family were taken over by disbelief and sadness.

Elizabeth would be remembered as a wonderful athlete, a happy, outgoing and caring person. She played both varsity field hockey and lacrosse, and was elected to student government in her senior year. She was also voted Class Clown by her graduating Class of 2009.

A Rebel #9 and Rebel # 5 shirts were displayed on each side of the casket in remembrance of the sports Elizabeth played.

"She was great, competitive, awesome girl," Danielle Fiore said.

Charlotte Reilley, who was Lynch-Gonzalez's drill sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, was also in attendance. Elizabeth completed basic training there and upon graduation in May, she was one of two in her class promoted to private E-2.

"She was very dependable," Reilley said. "She had the ability to make people laugh, which is hard to do in that environment. It's a very stressful environment."

Elizabeth's mother Mary Ellen Lynch asked Reilley to put the PV2 rank insignia on Private Lynch-Gonzalez's shirt, which she had received in the mail this week. Promotions are received after being in the military for a certain period of time and having shown outstanding performance.

"It was my honor to know your daughter," Reilley told her mother.

Elizabeth's older brother U.S. Private William "Nick" Gonzalez, 26, was able to return home from duty in Iraq in time for his sister's wake and funeral. Funeral arrangements were delayed pending his return, Mary Ellen said.

"It's sad that a young person feels it's the only resort," Lakeland High School teacher aid Barbara Rosabella said of Elizabeth's suicide.

Elizabeth's mother said her daughter got upset when she the U.S. Army notified her late last week that her leave was cut short by about two weeks and she was scheduled to go to Fort Bliss, Texas, on Thursday, the day she leapt to her death.

"It pushed her over the edge," her mother said. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated today at 11 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, located at 1377 East Main Street in Shrub Oak. Her burial will take place at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne. A memorial service and vigil will be held at the Lakeland High School field on Friday at 7 p.m.