Families Bid Sad Farewell to Victims of EgyptAir Crash

Relatives of the victims of EgyptAir Flight 990 gathered Sunday to bid them a wrenching farewell, with one woman wailing “My baby, my baby!” and others holding on to each other after an emotional service at the edge of the sea where their loved ones remain.

About 250 family members gathered on a clear, cold afternoon at a park overlooking the Atlantic Ocean as leaders of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths offered readings, chants and prayers in three languages.

“Your loss is great, your pain deep, but you must find solace in the memory of those wonderful moments you shared with your loved ones,” said Egyptian Ambassador Nebil Fahmy, who read from the Bible and the Koran.

In Orange County on Sunday, more than 400 relatives and friends of Beverly Grant gathered at Santa Ana’s Temple Beth Sholom to recall her life. Grant was among the 217 people who perished in the crash.

“It’s still difficult to believe. A numbness sets in,” said Joan Royal, who drove Grant and three friends to LAX to see the four off on the ill-fated flight. “You go to share your grief with these people, but these are the ones who are gone.”

Grant, 82, was aboard the flight with friends Tobey Seidman, 71, of Irvine, and Sheila Jaffee, 67, and Judith Bowman, 57, of Huntington Beach. The women, who had spent a year planning their trip to the Mideast to see the pyramids and the Nile in Egypt and then on to Jerusalem, were part of a group of friends who gathered for weekly card games.

“It was more than just a card game,” said her son, Michael Grant. “It was a unique fellowship of women.”

In the Newport ceremony, relatives were led to the water through a corridor formed by military personnel and caregivers, including workers from the Red Cross, National Transportation Safety Board and Salvation Army.

Some wept and wiped their faces with handkerchiefs as they dropped flowers into the sea and lingered to pray and meditate. Others left their flowers in a wicker basket. One woman was so overcome that she had to be helped to the beach. Others wailed and wept.

A military honor guard carried the basket to a Coast Guard helicopter, which hovered overhead briefly before slowly departing. The Coast Guard said the helicopter would drop the flowers at the crash site Tuesday and take photographs to give to the families.

The Boeing 767 plummeted into the sea Oct. 31 from 33,000 feet, killing all on board.