A minister pleaded with mourners at a funeral Wednesday for one of three teen-age suicides to put aside questions about what led to their deaths, and focus instead on avoiding the same path. Thomas Smith, 17, was the first of three suicides among Sheridan High School students in two days, and counselors for their classmates were on 24-hour call. About 80 students missed classes Wednesday, about 30 more than usual, school officials said. Some of the absentees were among about 250 people packed into the Buie Funeral Home chapel to hear the Rev. Dennis Moon urge them to cling to God as they grieved over Smith's death. ``Bringing back Tommy is beyond our control, but going with him ... is still our choice,'' said Moon during the 20-minute service. ``We don't need to ask God why he would let this happen,'' said Moon, of the Landmark Baptist Chruch. ``We need to ask God what would he want us to do.'' A graveside service followed at a cemetery in Grapevine, some 23 miles from Sheridan. Five members of the school's ROTC, of which Smith was a member, stood at attention about five feet from the casket. A man walked up to each youth, removed a white flower from his uniform lapel and set it in the youths' white gloves. As the gathering broke up, four young men approached a reporter and three photographers and demanded their film. The photographers refused; two of the youths threw rocks at the car as it left. On Monday, Smith stood in front of his American history class, told a female classmate, ``I love you,'' pulled a gun out of his pants and shot himself. Later that day, Chidester, 19, of the Grapevine community, a friend of Smith's, died of a gunshot wound. He left a note that said ``I can't go on any longer,'' according to police. On Tuesday, the body of Jerry Paul McCool, a 17-year-old sophomore, was discovered in his home by his father. McCool, who also had been shot, knew Smith and Chidester, but wasn't close with them, officials said. All three deaths were ruled suicides, said Grant County Sheriff Cary Clark. In addition to those deaths, a 17-year-old classmate shot himself to death March 28. And three other county residents _ ages 22, 40, and 82 _ have killed themselves since Jan. 23. Hours after the latest shooting, parents and students packed the school's 1,000-seat auditorium to discuss the suicides. Some held hands. Some cried. About 60 counselors and clergymen from around the state had arrived at the normally quiet bedroom community 30 miles south of Little Rock. School Superintendent David Robinson said students met with counselors in group sessions and one-on-one Wednesday. ``Obviously school, as such, is not occurring at the moment,'' Robinson said. ``Actually, it's more like a massive counseling session.'' Later Wednesday, he said the mood had improved. ``The bottom line is we feel pretty good about how people are recovering. The kids have told us they're ready to try to get back to normal.'' Some said the atmosphere was less somber at the school Wednesday than earlier in the week. Lisa Deal, 18, a senior and president of the student council, said even though the mood had improved, the community had a long way to go to get over the series of deaths. ``It's scary knowing your friends ... would go to these extremes,'' she said. Ms. Deal said she was an acquaintance of Smith and Chidester. ``The students really opened up here today,'' she said of the counseling sessions. ``Yesterday was bad for us because it was newer. Everybody had just heard about it.'' Robinson, who held a news conference Wednesday morning, said he also felt the situation was getting better. ``I think the fact that our students were involved in a kind of organized session this morning and were able to express their feelings helped,'' he said.
