LANSING, Ill. _ Brian Less, clutching a tissue in his hand, paused before he spoke to the rows of people who gathered to remember his daughter.
"There have been many, many people who say there are no words," Less said through tears. "Dayna would correct you."
Less smiled as the crowd chuckled Monday morning at a Lansing, Ill., church. He then listed some of the words that held meaning to his 24-year-old daughter: faith, love, God.
Dayna Less, 24, a pharmacist, was one of three people fatally shot Nov. 19 at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago, along with Tamara O'Neal, of LaPorte, and Samuel Jiminez, a Chicago police officer.
"All three of them gave to help others," the Rev. Milos Vesin said. " ... That's why we all form a community today."
The families and friends around each of the three were mourning together, Vesin said. Jimenez's funeral was also held Monday, while O'Neal's is scheduled for Friday, according to her obituary.
Juan Lopez shot O'Neal, his former fiancee, in front of the hospital after he confronted her about returning an engagement ring, police said. Less was exiting an elevator when she was struck. Lopez also died in the shooting, police said.
Roughly 150 people filled the wooden pews at St. Archangel Michael Church for Dayna Less' funeral. People were still streaming into the church, which was standing-room-only, as services began.
"She loves the first snow," Brian Less said to the people who gathered, many who were still wearing their winter coats after trudging through slushy snow to get inside.
"I just look at it and how beautiful it is and how beautiful she was," Brian Less said as he cried.
Vesin remembered about 17 years ago when Dayna Less asked, "Where does God live?" She asked if he lived at the church, or if he had multiple residences, even a summer place, Vesin laughed.
When the children were asked to write a letter to God, Vesin said that Dayna Less began her letter by literally writing, "Knock-knock. It's Dayna. Are you home?" The crowd laughed as Vesin described how she figured God was probably busy, so she'd check in later.
"She now really knows where God really abides and lives," Vesin said.
Vesin described Dayna Less the same way her father did in the days after the shooting, as a fighter.
Her family kept a blog, mydaughtersheadache.com, as Dayna Less started getting migrainelike headaches as a teenager, her father previously said. She underwent surgery after it was determined nerves had embedded into her skull, he said.
Dayna Less graduated from Lake Central High School in 2012. In May, she graduated from Purdue University after studying pharmacy, and she wanted to help people after she went through, her father said.
She was going to marry her fiance, whom she met as a child at church camp and began dating when she was 15, in June at the church where her funeral was held Monday. Brian Less said his wife was making her wedding dress.
Vesin said that Dayna Less had a "beautiful smile" and her giggle was "second to none."
"Dayna, thank you for everything you have given us," Vesin, who officiated the funeral, said.
People in each of the rows at the church formed a line to hug Dayna Less' family and fiance, some pausing for long hugs as they wept together. People supported each other as they stood in front of her casket, wiping away tears and sobbing as they walked away down the aisle.
There was soft singing as Dayna Less' family followed behind her silver casket as it was carried out of the church. The lights were turned off as the last mourners shuffled out after the service. According to her obituary, she was to be buried at St. Sava Cemetery in Libertyville, Ill.
