HARTLAND – Hundreds of people gathered Saturday to celebrate the life of Anthony James Tucker, who at age 13 was killed by his mother’s boyfriend in what police have deemed a domestic homicide.

Anthony was a young man who loved life, the outdoors and his family.

“When we got out of high school, we said we were going into the military together to be a couple of heroes someday,” Anthony’s best friend and classmate, Scott Lureau, said at Saturday’s memorial service.

But, as Scott told the gathering of about 300 people, Anthony beat him to becoming a hero.

“Just before he died, he became the biggest hero I have ever heard about,” he said.

Anthony was shot early last Tuesday while running from the home where he and his two younger sisters lived with their mother and her boyfriend, 39-year-old Todd Curry.

Police have released few details about what happened that morning at the Warren Hill Road home, but it is believed that Anthony was helping his sisters, and possibly his mother, flee from the residence.

Domestic disputes reportedly were common at the historic, Federal-style home Curry inherited from his grandparents, and police have charged Curry with gunning down the young teen in the driveway.

But Curry has yet to see the inside of a courtroom.

He was committed involuntarily to Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta less than 24 hours after the incident after what jail officials called a mental breakdown.

In a prepared statement, members of the Tucker family recognized Saturday that Curry’s family also is going through a difficult time.

“Life for them has forever changed,” a relative, Debbie Elliott, said Saturday, reading from the statement.

Elliott acted as the spokeswoman for the Tucker family and media were asked not to conduct additional interviews, but were allowed to sit at the rear of the Hartland Community Center during the service.

“We live in a world that is quick to place blame, but reluctant to take responsibility for our actions or inactions,” Elliott read. “All of us are, in some way, responsible for the death of Anthony Tucker. We failed him as a society.”

In preparation for Saturday’s memorial service, the Rev. Mark Tanner met with Anthony’s parents, April Cooley and Randy Tucker, and said he was struck by one thing, “that in the midst of all of us, Anthony Tucker was a bright light, a truly bright light, whose flame was snuffed out too early.”

A photo slide show told the story of a smiling baby boy, holidays and birthday parties gone by, a budding outdoorsman, a proud big brother – and then the pictures turned to the words of an unknown author: “One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove or what kind of clothes I wore. All that will matter is that I made a difference in the life of a child.”

In his 13 years, Anthony touched many lives.

“He really was an awesome individual,” Tanner said.

Over the last few days, Anthony’s sister Adrienne Tucker, 10, wrote several messages and memories of her older brother, and she handed one to Tanner before the afternoon of the service.

Titled “Anthony’s Good Times,” it was a list of more than 20 things her big brother loved about life.

Ice fishing, snowmobiling, sledding, four-wheeling, boating – “He loved to go,” she wrote.

Anthony enjoyed fishing with his dad and riding his bicycle with his mom.

He loved skateboarding, hunting, chocolate and chicken.

He loved his friends and his sisters.

He loved life.

“He enjoyed the little things, always,” Tanner said.

The family is hopeful that Anthony’s death, although tragic and sad, wasn’t in vain.

“What needs to come out of it is changes in laws, because there was nothing we could do,” Elliott said. “We couldn’t do enough. We failed.”

She and other family members would like to see the state create a Children’s Bill of Rights. If there are incidents of domestic violence, children should be removed from the home at least until the issue can be investigated and resolved, she said.

“The adults decide they’re not mad at each other tomorrow, and there’s nothing they [authorities] can do, and that’s not fair,” Elliott said. “The children stayed in this situation to protect their mom.”

To those who attended Saturday’s service, Tanner had two distinct messages.

One was for Anthony’s friends. He urged them to keep his memory alive and explained that over time they would realize the gift that Anthony was.

The second was for parents, grandparents and community members to take Anthony’s unfortunate death as a wake-up call.

“We have to get a grip, and we have to understand the magnitude of what domestic violence is,” Tanner said.

Anthony’s death put a face on the issue.

“I don’t want to leave here today thinking that Anthony’s death was in vain,” Tanner said. “We can keep his spirit living here. We can make a difference in the world and in the people around us.

“There’s work to be done.”

“Hero,” written by April Souza in memory of Anthony James Tucker

The following handwritten, framed, poem appeared on the lectern before Saturday’s memorial service for Anthony Tucker who was shot and killed at his home last week.

The Rev. Mark Tanner read the poem as part of the service.

Anthony, you’re a hero so brave and true.

That’s a gift God gave to you.

How proud we are for what you did,

Though we lost a special kid.

Our hearts are heavy with sadness and pain,

But we’ll hold tight to the moment we’ll see you again.

You’ve touched our hearts in many ways –

Enough words cannot say.

So here’s to a hero as sweet as beauty embrace.

There’s no one in this world that could ever take your place.

Here’s to you, our son, grandson, brother and friend.

Our love for you will never end.

Our memories will never fade because today, on this day

An angel was made.