Mark Lennon's infectious smile was recalled at a teary Friday funeral where family and friends remembered him as both best man and best buddy.
Mourners tossed white flowers into the Hudson River after the emotional hour-long Mass for Lennon at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Piermont, N.Y.
The dead man's family was accompanied inside the church by friend Brian Bond, who asked Lennon to serve as best man for his Aug. 10 wedding to Lindsey Stewart.
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The bride and the best man were instead killed July 26 when a speedboat slammed into a moored barge that was visible Friday from the riverfront church.
Bond survived the wreck, while a friend who was at the wheel was charged with vehicular manslaughter. Lennon's brother Mark, in his eulogy, mentioned his sibling's love of Bond and the bride.
And he referenced the ever-present grin on his brother's face.
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"Going through the hundreds of photos that we have received in the last few days, we couldn't find one photo without that smile," said Ray Lennon. " ... His smile is shining down on us."
Lennon, 30, was a doting godfather to Ray's three children: two boys and a girl. Ray recalled how his brother rooted for the Boston Red Sox and New Jersey Devils in the shadow of Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden.
The mourners included members of the Rockland Gaelic Athletic Association, who hung team jerseys on the church railings. Lennon played soccer for the group since he was a boy.
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"He's looking down on us today and shaking his head and asking, 'I don't know what you're all crying about, what you're making a big fuss over,'" Ray Lennon said.
"I don't think there was one single person who didn't like Mark, or walk away without being impressed by his demeanor ... He enjoyed every moment, and always found a way to add adventure to every day."
Bagpipes played as Lennon's dark brown coffin was brought into the church on a sun-splashed day. Afterward, mourners threw lilies, daisies and carnations into the waters where Lennon was killed.
The moving public good-bye was followed by a private cremation.
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