There are good and bad things about living in a small town such as Fountain Hills.

One of the positives is how friends, neighbors and others can rally around one family who has suffered a major tragedy.

The DeGroote family has touched many folks over the years, and many folks in return have touched the DeGroote family since it was learned about two weeks ago that their oldest son, Mike, was tragically and accidentally killed in an Alaskan national park.

Approximately 800 people gathered at Christ’s Church on Saturday for a memorial service to honor the 22-year-old, the oldest of three DeGroote boys.

I believe it’s the largest memorial service/funeral ever held in Fountain Hills to date. That’s how wide and deep this sad incident touched people.

The main sanctuary was standing room only, as was the fellowship hall. In a nod to the millennials and their love of technology, the service was live streamed on YouTube and big screen TVs were able to broadcast the service in the separate fellowship hall.

Mike and his family have grown to know many segments of this community over the years – through Pop Warner football, youth basketball, soccer, Little League, FHHS athletics, Christ’s Church, Scottsdale Community College, Northern Arizona University, Snap Fitness, Walgreen’s pharmacy, the hospital down on Shea, etc., etc.

A charter bus brought most of the NAU football team and other supporters to the service from Flagstaff. Others may not have been close to Mike, but they know the parents, Dave and Mari, from something. Or the other two sons. They wanted to be there for them. Neighbors and snowbirds opened up their homes for visiting family members. Funds have been given on the Internet. Meals for the family have been scheduled.

The food kept coming and coming on Saturday to the church’s kitchen. Other churches brought in chairs, equipment and food. Fort McDowell donated a ton of stuff. The LDS church allowed overflow parking on their property.

It was truly a display of “community” at its finest – as it should be.

The DeGrootes are all about community, and I’m sure one of their biggest wishes is for those who knew Mike to continue doing something positive for the communities in which they reside – their team, their school, their business, their circle of friends, their church, whatever it may be…

Mike’s personality was on display at the service – the huge smile, the love of football, the thrill of flying an airplane, the happiness of landing that big fish, the contentment of hiking in the great outdoors, the love of friends, the support of family, his love of God.

As Mike’s service was held in the middle of a Saturday, Native American participants in the annual Piestewa Games were gathered down below at Golden Eagle Park playing in a softball tournament.

That, too, was a fitting tribute to Mike DeGroote, and they didn’t even know it. Mike would have wanted them to keep playing and enjoying a sport and the outdoors.