County says goodbye to beloved daughter

Hundreds of people packed St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Algoma Wednesday for a funeral service for Britney Ebert, the 19-year-old daughter of Randy and Renee Ebert..

She died unexpectedly on May 12 at her family's Algoma home with her parents by her side.

Britney was born on Aug. 21, 1996, in Green Bay and attended  Algoma schools and  Algoma High School.  She had planned to graduate with the 2016 class on May 26.

As her family said in her obituary, "Britney was not born with special needs, she was born with limitations."

The funeral service was led by pastors John Moll and Joel Gaertner.

"The community loved her for who she was  ... Jesus's little lamb," Gaertner said. "And we might even say that the whole county welcomed her and loved her."

Gaertner spoke of Britney's favorite hymn, "This Little Light of Mine, I'm Going to Let It Shine."

"I don't think you could pick a better theme song for that young lady," he said.  "She loved the farm, she loved her family, she loved her friends."

Gaertner spoke of the support of a family "who loved her and accepted her with open arms."  He also recognized her "second family just down the road."

The Eberts had expressed their appreciation for the family of Jayme and Emily Rankin.  "Emily started as an aide for Brit in the school, but her love for Britney exceeded far beyond that," the Eberts wrote in the funeral program.

Some mourners waited in line for more than two hours Tuesday night as hundreds of county residents paid their respects to the family at a wake at the Algoma High School gym, which was filled with flowers sent by family and friends.  The Ebert family owns one of the largest dairy farms in the county and are scheduled to host Farm Technology Days in 2017.

"Britney taught me to recognize that all students have talents and gifts," said one of her teachers,Teal VanLanen, on Facebook.  "They need others to love them and they have lots of love to give.  My heart goes out to the whole Ebert family and the rest of the community who are all mourning the loss of Britney."

The service included hymns sung by Taylor Jadin, Mary and Courtney Dart, and St. Paul's School Junior Choir and Joyful Noise.

After the service, her parents, brother, Jordan, and twin sister, Whitney, gathered around her casket to say the family's bedtime prayer before closing the casket and escorting her out of the church.

She was buried at St John's Cemetery, Rankin.

The full obituary can be found here.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: County says goodbye to beloved daughter