By April M. Washington
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

ARAPAHOE COUNTY -- Isaiah Shoels, the final Columbine High School shooting victim to be buried, was memorialized and laid to rest Thursday in an emotional funeral service.

More than 5,000 people packed the Heritage Christian Center to mourn and celebrate the life of the teen-ager slain April 20. State officials and religious leaders said Shoels' death symbolized the senseless violence and racism behind the attack at the school perhaps like no other.

"I didn't know Isaiah Shoels or the boy we buried yesterday, or the children we buried Tuesday, Monday and Sunday," Gov. Bill Owens said at the elaborate, four-hour service. "I do know they were good children.

"And I do know the only good that will come from this is it will bring Colorado together."

Owens was joined by an impressive list of celebrities, musicians, and state and national political leaders in addition to scores of family members from throughout the nation.

Shoels, 18, was the only black slain by the two teen-age gunmen who boasted they were targeting minorities and athletes as they ripped apart Columbine High last week in the rampage that killed 15 people including themselves.

Martin Luther King III, son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., passionately condemned the violence and bigotry that took Shoels' life.

"I stand before you the victim of violence," said King, who flew in from Atlanta to speak at the funeral. "I was 10 years old when my father was gunned down by senseless violence.

"There is still something gravely wrong with our nation when two young man who worshiped Adolf Hitler go on a killing spree on his birthday."

Dennis Leonard, pastor at Heritage Christian Center, urged those at the service to look beyond hate and focus on healing.

"We pray for the healing of Columbine High School," he said. "We pray for healing of the family, and we pray for healing across the nation. This day is the beginning of that healing."

Shoels was memorialized eloquently by a variety of speakers in the tradition of fiery southern religious services. Firebrand preachers and the church's 250-member choir brought the audience to its feet with rousing gospel music.

Hundreds of family members were escorted into the sanctuary by three dozen of Shoels' schoolmates and friends, carrying flowers and blue-and-white balloons.

National recording artists Silk electrified the audience with an a cappella version of I believe the Children Are Our Future.

Family members, friends and ministers remembered Shoels as a loving, tenacious teen who never let a lifelong heart condition keep him from living a full life.

"Isaiah was low in stature, but always determined to beat the odds," said his cousin, the Rev. Issaih Carter of Amarillo, Texas. "He was never the type to give up."

A video tribute showed photographs of Shoels from infancy to adolescence, his trademark smile and optimism shining through.

Shoels was a talented football player and wrestler, and a person who would "give you the shirt off his back," Carter said.

"Isaiah's life touched so many at Columbine," said school principal Frank D. DeAngelis, who came under fire last week for not visiting the family before Sunday. "I can't possibly imagine the pain the Shoelses are feeling at this time, but I know the pain I feel over Isaiah's death."