Funeral set for Greensboro siblings who died after apartment fire

May 22--GREENSBORO -- A public memorial is planned for Saturday for the five refugee children, the youngest a toddler, who died as a result of an early morning apartment fire on May 12.

"It's heartbreaking," said Gerald A. Harris of Serenity Funeral Home and Cremations, which is in charge of the arrangements.

The children are Roy Hope, 8; Lisa Josiane, 7; Christopher Danny, 5; Joshua John, 3; and Trump Emmanuel Kamali, 18 months.

The funeral home and fire officials have withheld the names of the parents.

The "Celebration of Life" service is at 10 a.m. Saturday at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro, 1301 Alamance Church Road.

A public viewing is at 8 a.m., with a family visitation at 9 a.m.

The siblings will be buried at the city-owned Forest Lawn Cemetery, in plots donated by the city of Greensboro.

"It shows compassion," said City Councilwoman Goldie Wells, who represents the district the family lived in. "This is a tragedy and I think everyone has felt it."

Each burial plot would have cost $1,200, according to the city's website.

The family came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016, while escaping violence and poverty. After getting here, they named their new baby "Trump," after the new leader of their new home, as a nod to a country in which they saw opportunity.

The older children attended nearby Rankin Elementary School. The parents both worked full-time jobs -- the mother commuting several counties away for the overnight shift at a chicken processing plant. The father's parents and a sibling also live in the apartment complex at 3100 Summit Ave.

Officials attributed the cause of the fire to unattended food on the stove. The home didn't have working smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors. Their father, home with them, tried to get the two daughters and three sons out, but couldn't. Two of the children were pronounced dead after being rushed by ambulance to the hospital. The other three died after doctors spent hours trying to revive them.

"It's not an easy thing to do to bury just one child," said the Rev. Cardes Brown, an owner of the funeral home. "They will continue to need compassion and support."

Staff at the children's school, along with others from the North Carolina African Services Coalition resettlement agency, stepped in to help with immediate needs and arrangements. They and others are working on permanent housing for the parents. A gofundme account set up to help with expenses had raised nearly $49,000 by Tuesday evening.

"It continues to show that we live in a caring community, whether we pull together for tornado relief, or we grieve with a family that has a unspeakable loss," said Mayor Nancy Vaughan of the outpouring of support. "I think we are all mothers, fathers, daughters, sons. We can all relate to loss. We can all relate to grief. It goes beyond culture, language."

Online condolences: www.serenityfhcremations.com Memorial contributions and floral arrangements may be sent directly to the funeral home.

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Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 336-373-7049 and follow @nmclaughlinNR on Twitter.

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