The orphaned sons of tragic Uvalde couple Irma and Joe Garcia fought back tears as they carried their parents’ coffins into their funeral Mass.
Heroic Irma, 48, died trying to save her fourth grade pupils at Robb Elementary School in the Texas town last week when crazed gunman Salvador Ramos stormed her classroom.
She was killed alongside fellow teacher Eva Mireles, 44, and 19 of her students.
Two days later, her high school sweetheart Joe - full name Jose Antonio - had a fatal heart attack.
The 50-year-old died minutes after laying flowers for his wife of 24 years at a memorial in the town square.
Children Jose, 19, and Cristian, 23, were among the pallbearers who took the two wooden caskets into the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
They arrived at the ceremony in a fleet of black limousines with sisters Lyliana, 15, and Alysandra, 13, and other close family members, most dressed in black.
In a heartbreaking tribute to her parents penned this weekend, Lyliana said: "I will spend the rest of my life fighting for you. Your names will not be forgotten.”
Jose - wearing a blue tie and with a white rose in his buttonhole - was embraced by the Archbishop of San Antonio, Gustavo García-Siller, as he emerged from the car.
Archbishop García-Siller led the packed ceremony for Joe and Irma - who attended Mass at the parish regularly - with the support of several other priests from across the region.
Cristian, who recently joined the US Marine Corps, was in uniform. His fellow Marines formed a guard of honour as hundreds of mourners filed into the church.
In a tribute, the family said: “Irma Linda Garcia of Uvalde, Texas, was welcomed by our Lord and saviour while selflessly protecting her angels on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas.
“Jose Antonio Garcia joined the love of his life and was also welcomed into the arms of his wife, Irma, and our Lord on May 26, 2022.”
Following the two hour Mass, Cristian saluted his parents’ coffins before helping to carry them to waiting hearses.
They were then taken to a local cemetery for a private burial.
A fundraiser for the Garcia children - whose lives imploded when Ramos entered their mum’s classroom with an AR-15 rifle last Tuesday - has now topped £2 million.
Before his rampage - the worst US school shooting in a decade - Ramos shot his grandmother Celia Gonzalez, 66, who is being treated in a hospital 90 miles away in San Antonio.
Ramos - later shot dead by cops - had bought the weapon he used in the onslaught just days previously to mark his 18th birthday.
The tragedy has reignited the debate surrounding US gun laws and has also been mired in controversy due to the police response.
Local officers received the first 911 call from inside the school just after noon last Tuesday.
But they didn’t enter the classroom for more than 40 minutes despite desperate pleas from parents. It’s feared the delay could have cost lives.
US justice chiefs and the Texas Department of Public Safety have both launched investigations.
