Funeral for CBC hockey player draws crowd. ‘God apparently needs a star right defenseman.’

ST. LOUIS — Hundreds gathered Friday morning in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis to mourn Colin Brown, the 16-year-old hockey player who died last week after he was struck by a stray bullet on Interstate 55.

They described him as a good kid and a star hockey player. They grieved a tragedy so random some said it shook their faith.

Family and friends filed in quietly to the sanctuary just before the service, some offering hugs and whispers of condolences. Some wore hockey jerseys. Others wore all black. Many wiped away tears.

Colin, a junior at Christian Brothers College High School, was described as loving and kind — but all business on the hockey rink. He played on several hockey teams throughout his life, including for the club Affton Americans, where he wore jersey number 72.

His coach for two seasons in Affton, Bob Jakubeck, said the teen nicknamed “Brownie” led by example and gave “100% effort all the time.” He was proud to wear the Affton uniform, Jakubeck said, and even passed up a chance to play with a different team at a higher level to stay with his teammates.

Jakubeck said his faith had been shaken by the tragedy.

“God apparently needs a star right defenseman,” he said.

On Nov. 23, Colin was in the passenger seat of his father’s SUV on the way home to O’Fallon, Illinois, from a hockey game in Affton when he was struck in the neck by a bullet from another vehicle on I-55 near Loughborough Avenue. He died days later in the hospital.

Scores of elected officials, hockey organizations, including the St. Louis Blues, and members of the community expressed sadness and outrage over his death.

Police called for help from the public, including doorbell camera footage from residents near the Loughborough exit, and a local law enforcement nonprofit announced it had raised $25,000 for a reward for information on the shooting.

Police spokesman Mitch McCoy said Thursday afternoon the investigation into his death was still “very active,” and encouraged people to come forward with any information about the shooting.

At the funeral Friday, Monsignor Henry Breier thanked Colin’s hockey teammates, friends, family, CBC classmates and the St. Louis Children’s Hospital employees who cared for Colin and supported his family through “this most horrible moment of their lives.”

Breier said he was in the hospital with the Brown family and witnessed the love they felt for their son and each other. It “does not go unnoticed,” he said.

Jakubeck also visited Colin in the hospital the day before he died.

He said he’d needed “Brownie” so many times in tough games in key moments, and he knew he could always count on him. That’s why he and the other coaches appointed Colin to be a team captain one month into the season. Colin’s work ethic never wavered.

At his bedside, Jakubeck had one more request: “Can you give me one more shift?” he said.

“If you’re too tired, that’s OK,” he said. “You’ve done great.”

Jakubeck and his team spent the days after Colin’s death trying to process what had happened.

Then, on Thanksgiving, Jakubeck and his players were nearing the end of a suburban turkey trot when they heard a woman keeping a running count of the number of turkey hats spotted in the crowd.

As the team neared the woman, Jakubeck said, she shouted out, “72!”

“That was a message from Brownie,” he said.

At the end of the service, Colin’s relatives carried his remains out through the sanctuary.

They paused in an entryway. Overhead were the words, surrounded in golden tiles: “I have fought the good fight. I have kept the faith.”

His hockey teammates lined the walkway outside, flanking the procession of mourners.

They tapped their sticks on the ground in a show of respect.

Many people cried, some hugged. Then the hushed crowd filed away.