Family and friends of Thomas Conrad shared anger, laughs and tears Saturday at a Sabattus church, remembering one of the victims of the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston.
“This is a world event, and we need to let the world know that we are Lewiston strong,” Conrad’s father, Timothy Conrad, said at Community Baptist Church during the ceremony. “I want the world to know that my son went out a hero. He did what he felt was right.”
The exact number of visitors Saturday was unknown, but the church’s chapel had an estimated capacity of 150, and mourners packed themselves inside and in an overflow room in the basement.
Conrad, 34, was shot and killed while trying to stop Robert Card, 40, in a shooting rampage at the Just-In-Time bowling alley.
On Saturday, Sabattus Police cruisers directed traffic outside the church on Main Street while Conrad, an Army veteran, got a proper military honor inside, complete with a bugler playing Taps and a formal flag-folding ceremony.
Afterward, family members took turns sharing their feelings about the man they described as a hero. Timothy Conrad spoke the longest about his son, using the word “hero” to describe him more than once.
“Thomas had a different way of doing business, folks, no doubt about it, and in the end Thomas did what any hero would do, and that was to have his life taken by trying to save those that were there – children, parents, mothers, fathers,” he said.
Timothy Conrad said his son, whom everyone called “Tommy,” had a heart-to-heart talk with him right before being deployed to Iraq. His father, a Navy veteran himself, knew they would be discussing death. His son asked one thing: If he didn’t make it home alive, to play “Bad to the Bone” by George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers at his funeral.
On Saturday, the recollection drew laughs from the crowd. Timothy Conrad promised not to play the song but did ask the audience to join him as he read aloud the lyrics from the song’s first verse, prompting the crowd to shout with him, “Bad to the bone!” Once again, there were laughs and applause.
One promise Conrad said he will keep to his son was his request to be cremated and have his ashes spread at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington. His son lived in Seattle for a time, he said, and both father and son had come to love the park. Timothy Conrad said he will honor his son’s wish next summer.
Timothy Conrad shared raw emotion too, apologizing to his wife for being short-tempered since the shooting.
“I found myself to be extremely angry, very angry about this, and I’m a better person than that,” he said. “This hurts.”
As a final message, Timothy Conrad vowed to see the bowling alley reopen.
“This is our place,” he said. “I want us to take back Lewiston by storm.”
Other mourners offered spontaneous memories about Conrad before a slide show of photos followed by some Bible readings concluded the service.