A portrait of the girl sat upon the church dais flanked on either side by flowers and a rainbow of balloons. The silence was broken by the comforting words of the Rev. William Beck and songs special to the child and her parents, Jay R. and Valerie Egolf Mowery. One of her uncles, John Mowery, read a statement from her parents that thanked everyone for their prayers and support. He said while the family is trying to cope with all of the anger and hurt, they are thankful an even greater tragedy was averted. He noted that other children were playing beside Hannah just minutes before she was struck by lightning outside her Upper Mifflin Township home.
Family members say they had no warning that lightning was a danger that evening.
Students staying in Israel Dickinson College has two students studying in Jerusalem, while Messiah College has eight. Neither school as of Friday afternoon was planning any immediate action to remove their students from the area, although officials at both colleges say they are in daily, if not hourly, contact with the students through electronic mail as well as with the schools where they are staying in Jerusalem. All of the students are doing fine so far. Dickinson College has two students studying at Hebrew University as part of a partnership program between the two schools, says Brian Whalen, Dickinson's associate dean for global education. Messiah has eight students studying at Jerusalem University College, says Messiah spokesman Kevin Villegas.