GREENFIELD — Hundreds of mourners came together on Monday to grieve the sudden death of 3½-year-old Carolina Lyvytska, who was killed by a vehicle in her family’s driveway in Millers Falls on June 3, according to Montague Police Chief Jason Haskins.
Relatives, friends and fellow church members convened at Kostanski Funeral Home in Greenfield before a burial at High Street Cemetery, and a memorial gathering and meal at the Providence Moldovan Baptist Church. The streets adjacent to the funeral home were lined with parked vehicles Monday morning, and the line of mourners continuously protruded out a side door.
Funeral home workers controlled traffic flow, and police officers were present to lead an escort to the cemetery. The church basement was filled with mourners, who ate together and talked before singing along to a brief musical program in Carolina’s memory.
“She was amazing. She had the most beautiful smile. She always smiled — never did she frown. She was the most grateful child. She always knew when to say ‘thank you,'” her aunt Ludmila “Luda” Sherstyukova said outside the church. “She was an angel sent from heaven. She was very obedient, very kind, very loving. She had the most sincere love that I hope that everyone gets to experience one day.
“God gave her to us for 3½ years, and they have been the most blessed, the most amazing years,” she continued. “She came down here to give us an example of how to love each other sincerely.”
According to Haskins, emergency personnel were called to the scene in Millers Falls at 6:39 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3. The incident is being investigated by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, but spokesperson Melissa Sippel declined to comment on the matter on Monday afternoon.
Relative Carolina Bublik spoke of seeing her loved one at church every Sunday and reminisced about seeing her with a blue pacifier as a baby.
“She was the sweetest little girl,” she said. “I can still imagine her big, beautiful eyes.”
Carolina Lyvytska’s photo and name were displayed on a screen in the church basement, with the words “Our Sunshine Forever: An example of love and thankfulness.”
Sherstyukova, who mentioned that her family hails from Uzbekistan and is of Russian descent, said the area’s Slavic-based Christian churches helped organize the services and the food and beverages for the memorial meal. She said phone calls offering condolences have come from Germany, California and Central Asia, and relatives visited from as far away as Utah, Minnesota, South Carolina and Virginia for the services.
“[The support] has been amazing, very supportive. Everyone has been very kind and loving and caring,” Sherstyukova said. “We’re very grateful to God that we have such a great, strong community who loves us, cares for us and has done more than we deserve.”
