HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Loved ones are attending funerals Wednesday for Chris Hixon and Nicholas Dworet, two of the 17 people killed last week in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Hixon was the athletic director at the school in Parkland and is remembered by his family and students as a hero, who died trying to protect his students.
"As soon as we saw it on the television, my mind knew exactly where Chris was," Hixon’s wife, Debbie Hixon, said.
Debbie Hixon said her family is overwhelmed with the support they have received since her husband's death.
"We are so blessed," she said. "In such an unfortunate and horrendous situation, that love comes out of it and we do feel the love. We may not answer every text or call or the Facebook thing, but we are feeling the love and it's helping. It really is helping."
The Hixons' son, Tom Hixon, said his father would have done anything to help the accused gunman had he only asked.
"If he had just sat down, spent an hour with my dad, he would have never done this because by dad would have talked to him, helped guide him, helped get his life sorted out," Tom Hixon said.
Chris Hixon served in the military in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm and will be buried with full military honors at South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth.
His funeral was held at 11 a.m. at the Nativity Catholic Church in Hollywood.
Dworet's funeral was held from 10 a.m. to noon at Serenity Funeral Home in North Lauderdale.
A public memorial was held at 5 p.m. at the Parkland Golf and Country Club.
Before he was killed, the high school senior was looking forward to being a member of the University of Indianapolis' swimming team.
Dworet ranked 64th in the state, and a month before his death, he won first place at a 100 Y Free event at the Aquatics Naples Open.
Those who knew Nicholas through TS Aquatics, where he was a beloved team captain known as "Swim Daddy," said they loved his positive attitude and good sense of humor.
"He was an amazing person, as well as a great swimmer. A happy, young man who embodied the values of our program. A young man who had changed his life recently and was on a major upswing in his life," a post on TS Aquatics Facebook page read.
Nicholas's younger brother was injured in the shooting and is recovering from his injuries.
