Service honors fire victims

Other family members turned away the father of two girls who died.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Louis Nicastro slowly walked into Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, kneeled in the last row of pews and said a silent pray.
The 84-year-old Nicastro didn't know Andria Price, 33, and her three children, Chelsea Smith, 13, Angela Miner, 8, and Jenna Miner, 6, who all died June 20 in a fire at their North Main Street home.
"Your heart goes out for them. They're in a better place," Nicastro, a retired Youngstown teacher, lamented as he slowly left the church before a memorial service for them.
The family died after an electrical fire started in their home's living room. They were all in Price's second-floor bedroom when they perished from smoke inhalation.
There was a smoke detector in the house, but the battery had been removed.
Family and friends, many with crumpled tissues to swipe the tears from their red, swollen eyes, lined past the urns containing the ashes of Price and Chelsea, who they called "Turtle."
Larry Price, Andria Price's father and Chelsea's grandfather, said Robert Miner, the father of Jenna, whom they called "Beeny," and Angela, known as "Angel Baby," didn't want the mother and her children interred together.
So, some ashes of the mother and Chelsea were mixed and placed in an urn for each of them. The urns will be interred in Lake Park Cemetery in Boardman.
"They're here in spirit," Larry Price said of the four.
As they passed in front of the urns, mourners passed a myriad of stuffed animals that had been left in front of the family's house.
A balloon read: "You'll be missed."
"May God watch over you," said a card from a family from Bonham Elementary School, where Angela and Jenna attended classes.
"Happy Papa's Day," read a card that Jenna made.
"Everybody's been so wonderful," said Sylvia Price, Andria Price's mother and the girls' grandmother. "There is a lot of love in this family."
Larry Price said the religious community has been wonderful to his family. The Thursday memorial was conducted by the Rev. Larry Frient, pastor of Mount Carmel, and priests and ministers from churches in Niles, Cortland and Lordstown also attended.
"The favors of the Lord are not exhausted; his mercies are not spent; they are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness," Father Frient told the mourners.
Tension amid grief
Nonetheless, there was tension at the service.
Miner attempted to attend the service but was rejected by the Price family.
There were police wearing suits both inside and outside the church. An occasional police car would drive past the church.
"The Prices kicked me out," Miner said when contacted after the service.
He said a memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at McFarland & amp; Son Funeral Home, Warren.
Miner said the ashes of Jenna and Angela will be interred in Bristol, but he wouldn't be specific as to where. When pressed, he hung up the phone.
The split in the family didn't go unnoticed by Thaddeus Price, Larry Price's brother, as he spoke to the near-full church.
"When grief strikes, people react in different manners. Robert [Miner] has lost Angela and Jenna that he loved deeply. So that may account for your recent behavior," he said.
He said the two sisters could be buried with their mother and sister at no cost to Miner.
"Our family and the citizens of the community feel the girls lived together and died together. It is only fitting that they be buried together," Thaddeus Price added.
A second service will be conducted at 2 p.m. today at Niles Middle School, where Chelsea attended classes, to dedicate a dogwood tree in the family's memory.
yovich@vindy.com