Mourners remember soldier

JOLIET – Hundreds of mourners on Saturday remembered a 22-year-old suburban Chicago soldier killed at Fort Hood as a courageous person, quiet observer and naturally talented musician who shared his love of guitar with all.

As funeral services began for Pfc. Michael Pearson, of Bolingbrook, a lone electric guitarist played a mournful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Hundreds filed into at Fred C. Dames Funeral Home in Joliet where Pearson’s casket sat draped by an American flag.

“He was a special human being with a love of music,” Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar said.

Pearson was among 13 people killed and dozens who were wounded in the Nov. 5 attack at the Texas army base. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in a military court.

Also killed was 21-year-old Pvt. Francheska Velez of Chicago, who recently had returned from deployment in Iraq because she was pregnant. Funeral arrangements for Velez were pending.

Pearson joined the Army in September 2008, after he quit what he thought was a dead-end furniture company job. Family members have said he hoped to broaden his horizons while serving his country.

“He loved his country more than he loved himself,” said Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who attended the service. “He wanted to serve and protect our democracy.”

Sobs could be heard throughout the funeral parlor and in an overflow room where families watched the services on a TV monitor.

Other televisions flashed childhood pictures of the solider who also was known for writing poetry and giving impromptu guitar lessons.

“He enjoyed making people happy with music,” said Scott Lorich, Pearson’s former guitar teacher. “He was doing music theory as a hobby. He loved it that much.”

Lorich said Pearson had enrolled in his beginning guitar class at Bolingbrook High School, even though his skills far exceeded the skills of others in the class, including the teacher.

To honor Pearson, a $1,000 scholarship was been established at the high school where Pearson graduated in 2006.

Bolingbrook officials said a picnic shelter near village offices would bear Pearson’s name.

On the day of the shooting at Fort Hood, Pearson had been waiting in line to get a booster shot at a processing center, his brother Kristopher Craig said.