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SIDNEY children mourned
Family, friends support mom of three kids who died in fire
Funeral held for 2-year-old twins and their 4-year-old brother
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
SIDNEY — Mylar balloons in the form of cartoon characters slowly turned as if to survey 175 mourners during a funeral service Monday, Feb. 18, for three young siblings killed last week in a house fire.
After the service, family and friends wrote condolences on the balloons — two in the form of Dora the Explorer, and one in the form of Mater, the tow truck from the popular movie "Cars."
Siblings, Jada My'Ree Griffith, 2, at left and her twin sister Ellianna Rochele Griffith, right, and their brother Javaun Michael Griffith, 4, all died in a house fire north of Sidney on Feb. 12, 2008.Dora the Explorer was popular with 2-year-old twins Ellianna Rochele Griffith and Jada My'Ree Griffith, while Mater was a favorite of their older brother, Javaun Griffith, 3.
Family members sought to console the children's mother, Bobbi Jo Brandyberry, 22, who with her children had been staying with her sister Tracy Copeland's family when the fire broke out at 806 E. Mason Road, about one mile northeast of Sidney. Brandyberry had been running errands with her brother when the fire started, according to Sidney fire officials.
Her children were overcome by smoke.
Copeland, 36, and her four children — Travis DeNise, 18; Stephanie Copeland, 14; Kendra Copeland, 12; and Arthur Adkins, 9 — all escaped the fire and attended the funeral.
"We're all together, and we're all family, and we'll all be all right," Tracy Copeland said after the funeral.
"We're very thankful for all the thoughts and prayers," said Diana Copeland, Tracy Copeland's mother-in-law. Asked how Brandyberry was holding up, Diana Copeland said, "She acts like she's numb."
More than 700 well-wishers signed the guest book for the funeral and the viewing that preceded it, said Mark Adams, owner of Adams Funeral Home, 1401 Fair Road.
Contributions for funeral expenses may be made to Bobbi Jo Brandyberry through Minster Bank, 117 W. Russell Road, Sidney. Contributions to help cover the Copelands' medical expenses — Stephanie Copeland sustained a broken back after jumping from a second-story window to escape the fire — may be made through Mutual Federal Savings Bank, 2140 W. Michigan St., Sidney.
The fire's cause remains under investigation.
