‘Let’s not forget these folks:’ Springfield victims of Oregon District mass shooting to be laid to rest Saturday

The Springfield community is preparing to lay two of their own to rest on Saturday — both victims of the Oregon District mass shooting.

The visitation and funeral services for 57-year-old Derrick Fudge and 39-year-old Monica Brickhouse will both be on Saturday at different churches in Springfield.

Visitation for Fudge will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday at St. John Missionary Baptist Church with service to follow at noon. Visitors should enter at the West Pleasant Street entrance.

Visitation for Brickhouse will be from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday at Greater Grace Temple on West Leffel Lane, with a service to follow.

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Fudge and Brickhouse were shot and killed by a 24-year-old gunman who opened fire on a crowd in Dayton’s Oregon District early Sunday morning.

Tonya Thaxton, Funeral Director in charge of Newcomer Funeral Home in Dayton said she’s expecting a lot of people at Brickhouse’s service — due to it being held in her hometown and the circumstances surrounding her death.

Alan Henry, of Robert C. Henry Funeral Home in Springfield, said there should also be a big turnout for Fudge’s visitation and funeral. The sanctuary where the services will be held at St. John’s holds around 200 people.

Springfield Police Division Chief Lee Graf said his department has been in contact with the funeral home directors about how his officers can help.

“We’ll be in the area to assist the families,” he said.

But as Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland states, the grieving process for the families will go far beyond the doors of the church.

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“I think that the people of Springfield will step up to this and provide support for the families in particular. We’ve already seen some of that and I’m sure it’ll be very, very real this weekend,” Copeland said. “We need to keep them in our hearts through the coming year and years.”

Mayor Copeland was one of the dozens of people who came together in downtown Springfield for a community vigil Monday night.

Among the attendees were families and friends of the victims and community members who just wanted to offer a hug or a word of support.

Dion Green, the son of Fudge, was at the vigil with his family. Green said his dad was a good father, good grandfather and someone who loved making other people laugh.

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Fudge died in his son’s arms the night of the mass shooting.

Brickhouse’s family has said she was a devoted mother, a beautiful wife and a loving daughter who will be missed by all who knew her.

Also killed in the attack were Lois Oglesby, 27, Saeed Saleh, 38, Logan Turner, 30; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Thomas McNichols, 25; Beatrice ‘Nicole’ Warren-Curtis, 36, and the shooter’s sister Megan Betts, 22.

The shooter, Connor Betts, 24, of Bellbrook was killed by Dayton police within a minute of the incident starting.

Funeral services are also scheduled today for Turner, Cumer, Warren-Curtis and Saleh. Services are Monday for Oglesby and McNichols. Funeral plans have not been made public for Megan Betts.

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