Clutching the papers she spoke from during the funeral, Rudd said her niece "was smart, she was funny, she was loving, she was sarcastic, she was quick-witted. She was loyal to all of her friends and all of her family. She never spoke badly about anybody."
The "mischievous and spunky and just fun" Weber High student loved being the center of attention, her aunt said. "I'm not surprised half of her school showed up. That's just the kind of person she was. She was friends with everybody and everybody loved her."
Alexis' best friend, Sidney Shaw, spoke of their relationship at the funeral. Sidney shared a note Alexis had written to her "BFFL," best friend for life.
The note described how lost Alexis would be without her. "Don't die anytime soon," Sidney read, choking back sobs. "But I know if you die, you're going to go to heaven."
In the note, Sidney said, Alexis also told her that she "was supposed to be a boy because we're soul mates. Too bad you're a girl."
Another friend, Bree Jacobson, read a poem urging her family and friends to continue to feel her presence. "My spirit is free but I'll never depart as long as you keep me alive in your heart," she said.
Alexis' cousins, including some of the youngest members of the large and close-knit family, sang, "I Am a Child of God."
A family friend, Karen Kagie, told reporters that Alexis' death has brought the community together.
"I think her passing has really made a difference," Kagie said with her children by her side. "Because a lot of people, thousands of people, could associate with her, because they have daughters that are the same age and they really felt the family's pain."
She said there's also been an impact on Alexis' peers. "I know the kids in this community are kind of scared because this could have happened to them."
Alexis was interned at Valley View Memorial Park in West Valley. A $10 a plate benefit dinner for her family is scheduled to be held Tuesday at the Marriott Hotel in Ogden from 6-9 p.m.
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