Over 700 family and friends packed Corpus Christi Church in south Windsor to bid farewell to Dr. Michelle Prince.
The 46-year-old mother of two and wife of former Mayor Eddie Francis, passed away last Sunday morning after a courageous five-year battle with cancer.
Her longtime friend of 30 years Gordon Orr paid tribute to Michelle, who he loved as a sister.
"This was a woman who knew how to pack every minute of memories into whatever time she had left. All the while, fighting to stay alive with every medical option," said Orr.
Prince was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in January 2014, but the driving force behind her fight to live was her two children, 11-year-old Sienna and 9-year-old Phoenix.
"She lived longer because of the two of you and she couldn't accept leaving you," he said. "As a result, you had five extra years with awesome memories to draw upon. Your mom is now your guardian angel watching over you and her spirit is strong in you."
He jokingly pointed out she will be dearly missed by Amazon as she loved online shopping.
Funeral mass for Dr. Michelle Prince. November 23,2018 (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Following the mass, an honour guard of students from the Edmunds Towers School of Dance stood outside the church as Michelle's two children are students there.
"It was the biggest honour ever because that's the way we felt about her," said Edmunds owner Dianne Edmunds. "It is wonderful that she felt the same way about the children."
Edmunds fought back tears saying Michelle will be missed but she taught everyone a valuable lesson.
"She has taught us all a lot of lessons and that is to live life to our fullest and to treat each day as it is a special day and that is what Michelle did."
Michelle Prince was 46.
Over 700 people packed Corpus Christi Church to bid farewell to Dr. Michelle Prince who "lived life to the fullest." @AM800News #cklw pic.twitter.com/UpiSDUkoBR
— Teresinha Medeiros (@tmedeiros800) November 23, 2018