Columbine: Chapter 24 Summary & Analysis

The night of the shootings, Reverend Don Marxhausen held a vigil at his Lutheran church. As he led his congregation in prayer, one parishioner begged him not to “forget” the Klebolds “in their hour of need.”

After checking his parish rolls that evening, Marxhausen realizes that Tom and Sue Klebold and their children, Dylan and Byron, had been members of the church five years ago. Though they didn’t stay on, he believes they are still “under his care.” He sends word to them that he is available to them if they need him, and a few days later, he receives a call from Tom—he needs a funeral for Dylan, and needs it to be confidential.

The service is conducted the Saturday after the shooting. Just fifteen people attend. Tom tells Marxhausen that “what you see in the papers was not my son.” Those attending the funeral “pour out their hearts” with anecdotes about Dylan, unable to understand where the violence and anti-Semitism come from—Sue herself is Jewish.

The Klebolds are aware that if they bury Dylan, his grave will be defaced, so they elect to have him cremated. Marxhausen asks the Klebolds’ attorney how he should respond when the press inevitably is made aware of the service. The attorney entreats Marxhausen to tell them, very simply, about what he witnessed at the service. The New York Times features Dylan’s service on the front page, and in the article, Marxhausen describes Tom and Sue as “the loneliest people on the planet.” Many people have difficult drumming up any sympathy for the Klebolds, but some of Marxhausen’s parishioners are deeply proud of him for “finding compassion in his heart for anyone.”

Though Cullen presumes that Wayne and Kathy Harris held “some ceremony for Eric,” word of it never leaked to the press.