Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, was buried in a family plot behind the Georgetown United Methodist Church, a few miles away from the scene of last Monday's massacre.


His grave lies next to that of his infant daughter, Elise Victoria, whose death nine years earlier had tormented him.


A pink, heart-shaped stone marked the resting place of the infant girl, who lived just 20 minutes after she was born Nov. 14, 1997.


Roberts' widow, Marie, looked on with the couple's three young children.


About half of the roughly 75 mourners at the small Methodist churchyard bordered by cornfields were Amish.


"The interment was attended by the families of the Amish children who lost their lives," explained funeral director John Bachman in an e-mail.


"Once again, we witnessed the miracle of forgiveness as the Amish families privately greeted the family of Charles Carl Roberts IV," Bachman wrote.


Adding that he had helped the Robertses bury their daughter in 1997, Bachman noted that the family once again needed to care for someone they "loved very much."


Before the interment, a private family service was held for Roberts in a church in Strasburg.


Rita Rhoads, a nurse midwife who delivered two of the children killed last week, said members of the Amish community are "delighted that the message of faith and forgiveness is getting out."


Along with indelible images of violence and heartbreak from the shootings at the West Nickel Mines School, the idea of benediction has traveled far.


A TV station in Australia summoned a local Mennonite couple providing relief services there to explain forgiveness, related Rhoads, who was not at the funeral but who has close ties to Amish and Mennonite communities.


Meanwhile, also on Saturday, Amish leaders and officials in the Georgetown area began to discuss the future of the ill-fated school.


"There will definitely be a new school built, but not on that property," said Bart Fire Company spokesman Mike Hart.

The tiny yellow building, now boarded up and shingled with no-trespassing signs, fast became a magnet for gawkers. Passing by at about 2 p.m. Saturday was a steady stream of cars, pickups and sport-utility vehicles, some with out-of-state license plates.


The traffic was punctuated with a few Amish buggies bearing grim-faced passengers. One Amish woman with a small dog in her lap gave a kindly wave to a reporter, signaling forgiveness for the massive media intrusion into her community.


Four chestnut horses munching in a nearby pasture reinforced the idea that life will go on after last week's horrific tragedy.


But there were also signs of strain.


A police officer assigned to guard the property was forced to wave along the vehicles, many of which slowed in front of the school.


A line of "no parking” signs along the road — and even a few "no media" signs — designated as off-limits the school and the adjacent homes, businesses and farm fields.


Nearby, at White Horse and Mine roads, rose a makeshift memorial containing bouquets of flowers and pots of chrysanthemums.


There stood Clark Walker and his 11-year-old daughter, Michelle, who had just placed five white bears in transparent boxes. The boxes bore the names of the slain Amish girls, along with beautiful silver-white ribbons.


Walker said he brought his daughter to the memorial to offer his family’s condolences to the families of the girls.


Many activities have been scheduled to commemorate last week's tragedy and help those impacted by it. Among them: •A healing service open to all has been set for 7:30 p.m. today at the First Presbyterian Church, 101 S. Decatur St., Strasburg.


•Lancaster church bell ringing. The Lancaster County Council of Churches is calling on all churches to ring their bells, and the whole community to observe a moment of silence, at 10:45 a.m. Monday to express solidarity with the Amish community.


•Crisis counseling sessions conducted by Chaplin Bruce R. Porter and open to all have been scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the Bart Township Fire Hall in Georgetown. Porter has counseled communities impacted by the shootings at Columbine High School and Baily High School in Colorado, and by Sept. 11. For more information, call public information officer Mike Hart at 669-1483.


•"Lessons of Love: Tales from the Tragedy at Nickel Mines." This lecture by Donald B. Kraybill of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies will be held at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Bucher Meeting House at the Young Center, Elizabethtown College. The talk supersedes the first of a series of four planned public lectures on "The Riddle of Amish Culture."


•A Nickel Mine Community Barbecue Benefit hosted by the Lancaster County CB Radio Club Inc. and R.S.J. Barbecue Service will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 28, at Paradise Community Park, 6 London Vale Road, Paradise.


Tickets for chicken or pork barbecue dinners are $6 each. For information, call Ron Stoltzfus, 687-6569, or Paul Funk, 464-5075.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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