‘She Was My Heart, Soul’ : Tragedy: Friends and family say farewell at a Mass for Mary Irene Lewis, just 16 when she was mysteriously stabbed to death last week.

Remembering her as a giving person whose humor and cheerful personality made everyone smile, more than 700 people bade farewell Monday to Mary Irene Lewis, who was mysteriously stabbed to death last week at age 16.

“If anyone could make me smile and laugh, she could,” said Erica Castillo, 16, one of Mary’s three best friends. “Though we are apart, she is in heaven making God smile.”

The trio of girls, who declared they were “friends for eternity,” tearfully remembered Mary and read poems following the morning Mass at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church here.

Mini Espitia, 16, began to cry as she described her friend since the fourth grade as a “great highlight of my life. She meant a lot to me and my family.”

Espitia recalled that the last time she saw Mary, she was “singing, dancing and laughing. That was Mary, the center of attention.”

Machelle Hamelin, 17, who also grew up with Mary, said, “There aren’t enough good things I can say about Mary. . . . She’s my heart and soul.”

Mary had just finished her sophomore year at Huntington Beach High School when she was stabbed 16 times and left dying on a Garden Grove street corner June 20. Police are still searching for her car, a white, two-door 1987 Nissan Sentra, license plate 2EGD875, and believe that Mary’s attacker drove off in the vehicle.

Relatives and friends told investigators that on the night she was slain, Mary had gone to Newport Beach Pier with a girlfriend, who later dropped her off. Later, she called her parents and said she would be home late. She was found about 1 a.m., about two hours after she called home.

During the Mass, Father Michael P. Hanifin called it parents’ worst nightmare to bury a child.

“You are experiencing what every parent fears the most: the loss of a child,” Hanifin told Mary’s parents, Jim and Regina Lewis, who sat in the front pew of the church, next to their youngest daughter’s casket, which was draped with a white cloth.

Mary’s siblings were also there: sister Anita, 19, and brothers, Thomas, 23, Robert, 22, and Christopher, 17.

The priest said Mary “lived life to the fullest. She was her own person.”

At the grave site at Good Shepherd Cemetery, Mary’s young friends brought her red roses--her favorite--and yellow roses for friendship, autographed red balloons and wore T-shirts that read “In Loving Memory of Mary.”

Among those who attended the Mass and burial were Huntington Beach city employees who work with Jim Lewis, a senior budget analyst, as well as city officials. Lewis has worked for the city for more than 20 years.

Robert Sedlak, a principal accountant who has known Jim Lewis for 13 years, and Sedlak’s wife, Maria, said the Lewises are family-oriented and religious.

“Jim’s a really wonderful guy,” said Sedlak, adding that Mary’s slaying has “really affected people at City Hall.”

Friend Matthew James, 19, of Huntington Beach, remembered Mary as someone who gave him advice and was always willing to help him.

“She was always happy and always smiled no matter what,” James said, who brought a pink rose for his friend. “She was a good person. She didn’t deserve to die.”

City employees have also established a memorial fund in Mary Lewis’ name. A reward fund to help catch the killer has been established at Bank of America, 7777 Edinger Ave.