Funeral program features handwritten note from president.
Pool photo by Charles Rex Arbogast
The funeral program for 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who performed last month at President Obama’s inauguration, featured a handwritten note by Obama, while first lady Michelle Obama attended the service in Chicago on Saturday. “Dear Cleopatra and Nathanial, Michelle and I just wanted to let you know how heartbroken we are to have heard of Hadiya’s passing,” the note read. Obama also pledged to “work as hard as we can to end this senseless violence.” Hadiya’s family focused Saturday’s service on her life and personality rather than the politics surrounding her death. She was killed on Jan. 29 in a suspected gang-related shooting, though she and her friends had no ties to any gangs.
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