Family and Friends Remembering Hailey Buzbee
FISHERS, Ind. — On Thursday, family, friends, and city leaders gathered at iTown Church, near East 136th Street and Brooks School Road, in Fishers for 17-year-old Hailey Buzbee’s celebration of life service.
Buzbee’s uncle, Mark Miranda, opened the service by painting a picture of a girl known to the “Ocho Trio,” her tight-knit group of cousins, as a playful spirit who never quite overgrew her love for stickers or her habit of hiding an earbud behind her hair to listen to her favorite indie bands. He spoke of her thoughtfulness, recalling how she would prepare bacon and egg sandwiches for the family.
A letter from Hailey’s father, Beau Buzbee, was read to the crowd.
“I still consider myself the luckiest dad ever,” he wrote. “I will always feel your sweet hugs and kisses on my cheek, though now I won’t have to wipe off the lip gloss. You’d apologize for that, but I always wore it with pride. You saved me the day you were born, Hailey, and you contined to save me everyday after that. You gave me a purpose to love and protect you.”
Beau’s words underscored a central theme of the night: that while Hailey was shy, her presence was powerful enough to change the world around her, a sentiment echoed by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness.
Fadness described the “fork in the road” a community faces during tragedy, the choice between fear and love. He shared how the Buzbee family chose the latter from the very first moment he sat at their kitchen table.
“That is what’s driving this community to not fear and anger and apprehension, but the lighting up the sky is pink at night,” Fadness said. “I got a message at 6:00 in the morning from the mayor of Elwood saying, “We’re with you,’ and the City Hall was lit up. The town of Brownsburg is lit up pink for who Hailey was. Hamilton County’s courthouse is lit up for who Hailey was.”
This wave of pink serves as a physical manifestation of a legacy the family intends to build, one rooted in the same selfless love Hailey showed when she was playing games with children at her server job or quietly bonding with horses in Brown County.
Family and Friends Remembering Hailey Buzbee was originally published on wibc.com
