Outside the doors of the Doherty Funeral Home in Somerville, family and friends of Haley Morrill held each other for warmth and comfort as they wept on each other’s shoulders, leaving makeup stains on white blouses and streams of tears running down their faces.
A sophomore at the Boston University Academy, Morrill, 15, died Wednesday evening of unknown causes after collapsing at a school retreat in Duxbury. Her uncle, Michael Murphy, was with her that night before she collapsed.
“She didn’t seem like she was in any pain,” Murphy said.
While the service was scheduled to end after 6 p.m., many waited outside the parlor to remember the creative and high-spirited student.
Morrill, from Medford, was a dancer and writer for the student newspaper at the Academy, a BU-affiliated high school near the George Sherman Union that allows students take college classes.
“She was the kid that did everything right,” said Thomas Murphy, also Morrill’s uncle. “She was perfect.”
Morrill’s mother echoed the statement, calling her daughter “perfect.”
Family, classmates, Academy teachers and parents of Morrill’s fellow students attended the memorial service, along with a group of about 20 Massachusetts State Police officers who volunteered their time to pay tribute to Morrill for Michael Murphy, who works for the squad.
“She was a terrific niece, and I loved her so much,” Michael Murphy said. “We’re such a close-knit family. Her mother used to sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ to her, and so I sang it to her too. I called her ‘my little teapot.'”
Each room of the funeral home was decorated with pictures of Morrill at different ages, from her early school days and family vacations to dance recitals and her first Holy Communion.
Visitors also flipped through a family photo album and watched a photo slideshow on a laptop.
“She was crazy witty,” said Emma Ward, who met Morrill in fifth grade at the Cambridge School of Weston. “She never stopped having fun. There is no real way to describe her specifically. You just don’t meet people like Haley very often.”
Madison Decapo, who met Morrill in middle school and kept in touch with her throughout high school, recalled her friend’s good-natured spirit.
“It’s very rare to find good people today, but Haley was definitely one of them,” she said.
The day after Morrill’s death, her classmates decorated her locker with flowers and a poster that read, “The world needs more people like you Haley. We miss you already.”
The Morrill family intends to establish a fund or scholarship in her name so future Academy students might have the opportunities she had, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.
“Flowers will be wasted, but a scholarship will carry on,” said Kay Kelly, Morrill’s great aunt, who plans to donate to the scholarship when it is established.
A funeral will be held Monday morning.
Morrill was the daughter of Bruce Morrill and Eileen Murphy. She leaves behind an older sister, Jaclyn, and a younger brother, Timothy.
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