Hundreds crowded into St. Joseph Catholic Church on Tuesday to attend the funeral for a St. Johns High School junior who died Friday after a lifelong battle with cancer.

School officials closed the high school Tuesday so students and staff could attend the standing room-only funeral Mass for 16-year-old Conner Whitford.

Students, relatives and friends filled the pews, stood against walls, sat on balcony stairs and huddled in the foyer during the service. Some students stood just outside a side door in the cold rain.

Whitford's friends remember him as a strong person who never let his illness affect the way he lived his life.

"He never complained about his cancer, and if you were sad for him, he'd tell you to stop being sad," said junior Tyler Crosby, 17, who had known Whitford for about eight years. "Every time you'd see the kid walk down the hall or into a room, everyone's face would light up."

Whitford was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and an Eagle Scout from St. Johns Boy Scouts of America troop No. 72. He played baseball on the St. Johns Redwings junior varsity team and enjoyed water sports. Two of his favorite sports teams were the Michigan State University Spartans and Detroit Red Wings.

After Tuesday's service, students cried and hugged each other outside the church as six pallbearers, wearing Red Wings jerseys, carried Whitford's casket out to a hearse.

"He just never gave up with anything. He kept fighting for 16 years," said Madison Webster, 13, an eighth-grader who goes to St. Johns Middle School with Whitford's younger sister, Claire.

Freshman Madison Hutton, 14, said Whitford used to walk up and talk to her at lunch time.

"He was very outgoing, and very sweet and was never afraid to talk to anyone," she said. "Even though he had cancer, it didn't seem to bother him. He was really strong for what he did."

Hutton said many students likely would have skipped school to attend the funeral.

"I'm glad they gave it off so we could come. I would have tried to come (anyway)," she said.

Whitford is survived by his parents, Gary and Joan Whitford; sister, Claire; grandparents, Rosie VanElls, Marvin and Joan Whitford; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.