A mother and her three young daughters who were killed in the La Conchita mudslide were remembered in Ventura on Sunday with Native American blessings, quiet tributes and an outpouring of sorrow from friends and family.
But they were also remembered with beer and food, as well as exuberant music from Hawaiian singers, bluegrass pickers and an African American church choir.
Friends said it was a fitting way to celebrate the lives of Mechelle Wallet, 37, and her daughters Hannah, 10, Raven, 6, and Paloma, 2 -- members of a freewheeling family that spread cheer around the seaside town before the hillside collapsed Jan. 10, burying houses and neighbors and dreams.
"Everybody thinks, 'Oh, yeah, I celebrate life every day,' " said Vera Long, 29, the Wallets' former neighbor. "But they really did."
La Conchita residents had grown familiar with the sight of the three girls scampering down to the ocean with their dreadlocked father, Jimmie, toting his acoustic guitar. Mourners said Mechelle was known for serving bread and vegetarian chili in the communal, 1960s-style home where the family had been living.
Sunday's tribute to the Wallets began with a quiet memorial service in a courtyard surrounded by Tibetan flags. Jimmie Wallet sat in the front row, his dreadlocks tucked into a knit cap. His surviving daughter, Jasmine, 16, sat beside him. Nearby, pictures of Mechelle and the younger girls had been placed on tables strewn with flower petals.
The girls' friends had fashioned rosemary garlands for the wrists of the mourners. Mechelle's friends built a "prayer shield" of wood and yarn, and attached mementos and keepsakes.
Each attendee was asked to describe the family with a single word. Among those offered were "loving," "open," "kind" and "barefoot."
In the afternoon, more friends gathered for a reception at a nearby Elks Lodge. Some wore dark suits, but many others -- surfers, bikers and dedicated beach people -- wore black sneakers or T-shirts. They packed the building as if it were a nightclub and spilled out into the frontyard. But the crowd was mostly doleful and still, even when hearing the joyful sounds of the Evangelistic Missionary Baptist Choir from Port Hueneme.
The Wallets were among 10 La Conchita residents killed in the slide. Another was Charlie Womack, a good friend of Jimmie's who had let the family live in a house that was more like a commune. Friends said the Wallets had been going through tough financial times. Long said Womack employed Jimmie in his contracting business and moved into a tepee to give the Wallets room in his house.
