Family, Friends Say Tearful Goodbye to Megan Boken at Thursday Funeral

Friends and family of the funny, joyful, gracious, loving and competitive Megan Boken—the girl with a "booming" laugh—gathered to honor her at a funeral Mass on Thursday morning at  in her hometown of Wheaton.

Boken, 23, died of gunshot wounds  in St. Louis.

She was born June 15, 1989 in Santa Monica, CA. She attended , and St. Louis University, where she was a star volleyball player for four years.

After her graduation in 2011, Boken returned to the Chicago area to work as a financial advisor. She was visiting friends and planning to play in a SLU alumni volleyball game the day she was shot and killed.

After visiting Wheaton to say goodbye to a friend and former teammate of three years, Amelia Karges said it has been "powerful," seeing how many lives Boken affected.

She said she when arrived at the visitation when it started at 3 p.m., she waited an hour to get inside. "By the longest part, people were waiting three hours plus," she said.

Karges was one of many who said the first thing that comes to mind when she thinks of Boken is her . "It was booming," she said.

"The phrase her dad used today was: 'it filled the room.' You could just sense when she was around... She was such a mingler... She would give everyone hugs, and she would do this little shake when she hugged you," she said.

"She would always make us laugh... She made me appreciate the little things, and see humor in more things than most people could ever do," she said.

Karges said another former teammate, , spoke at the funeral of her best memories of Boken, and, "how she was the most gracious, selfless person."

"It was such a great speech," she said.

Blaha said Boken was one of the first people to make her feel comfortable on a new team. "She gave me a big hug immediately," she said.

"As soon as you met her, you felt like you knew her for years... I think she touched so many people, just because everybody she met felt like her best friend," she said.

Amanda Gaillot, who also played volleyball with Boken said something the priest said that stuck out in the Mass Thursday was, in mourning Boken's loss, and realizing why it hurts so badly, is because out of hundreds of thousands of people, "you can't find anybody like Boken," she said.

"There is that essence about everyone, and that's why it hurt so bad and the suffering is so great, because of the essence of her spirit that isn't there... She's irreplaceable."

She added Fonke said Boken was her rock. "She would always tell people she had an angel for a best friend, and now she does have an angel looking over her," she said.

"I wish I could be more like her—seeing the positives in life. Everybody has things going on in their lives, and to put on such a happy face and share that joy and love with everybody around you—I think that’s something she’s taught everybody."

Police said Thursday that  as persons of interest in Boken's murder.

MORE ON THIS STORY

 -----------

Sign up for our newsletter to get Wheaton news delivered straight to your inbox.

For a slightly different take, like Wheaton Patch on Facebook.