Saying Goodbye to Brandon, Toms River's "Little Buddy"

There’s a point, when the quantity of years begins to outweigh the quality of the years, Rev. Scott Shaffer said, that you begin to view death as a welcome reprieve, the reward for a life well lived. Faith is easier that way; there’s less to question when someone’s time has come.

For Brandon Holt, a 6-year-old Toms River boy who died earlier this week after being accidentally shot by his 4-year-old neighbor, those answers just aren’t so clear. Why it was his time just isn’t something we can know, Shaffer said. It will remain difficult, accepting his untimely death, but there’s really only one available option, he said, remember the boy that stole your heart, and ensure that his memory lives on.

Funeral services were held for Holt late Saturday morning at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. Approximately 300 people attended the mass, among them family, friends, classmates, and area residents - effectively strangers - hoping to lend their support, tied to the tragedy through mutual sorrow and disbelief.

“How many times have we look at what happened this week and said, ‘what could have been different?’” Shaffer said, referring to improbable series of events that led to Holt’s death at the hands of an even younger neighbor. “If only, if only, if only.”

But, as questions still remain unanswered less than a week after the shooting incident – why God determined it was Holt’s time, and why a 4-year-old child had ready access to a loaded firearm – it’s important to remember the energetic life, terribly brief though it was, that Holt did live, Shaffer said.

Shaffer recalled a boy who was always smiling, full of energy and more than a little bit rambunctious. “My goodness did he live that life,” Shaffer said, recalling a boy that, despite being sometimes incorrigible in the parish setting – Shaffer told of a moment when Holt delivered a karate chop to an unsuspecting aid to the congregation’s amusement – always displayed a generous spirit.

As mass began, the unfairly small casket was wheeled in slowly up to the altar as several mourners edged their way to the end of their pews to get a better look, many of them raising a hand to their mouth, lowering their head, or turning their wet eyes into a neighbor’s waiting shoulder.

With green ribbons representing Holt’s favorite color pinned to lapels and tied around trees outside of the church, a lone bagpiper singled the start of the procession into and, later, outside of the church, as Holt’s casket was lifted into a waiting hearse.

Members of Holt’s family gathered at the front of the church near the altar, holding on to each other for support. Though Shaffer delivered Holt’s eulogy, Brandon’s brother, wearing a bright green tie, address the congregation, fighting back tears as said: “Brandon was a very wonderful kid,” before trailing off.

Finally, Shaffer encouraged Holt’s family to stay together, to support each other through the grief that will remain. In good times, or bad times, it’s family that’s remains. 

"One little life touched an awful lot," he said. "Be at peace, little buddy."