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100 gather to remember city youths lost to violence

Jane Richard (center), who lost a leg in the Marathon bombing, danced with her friends at Saturday’s Think Peace event. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

More than a hundred people crowded into a Dorchester church Saturday for a gathering to remember young people lost to violence — including 8-year-old Martin Richard, who died in the 2013 Marathon bombings, and 17-year-old Andrew Tavares, who died of a gunshot wound in 2010.

As children and parents milled around in the auditorium of the First Parish Church for fourth Think Peace event, the mood was a mix of celebration and somberness.

“As moms, we’re sad all the time when you lose a child,” said Denise Richard, mother of Martin. “But most of us have other children too.”

Her other son, Henry, who escaped physical injury in the bombing, but her daughter, Jane, lost a leg.

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On Saturday afternoon, Jane, now 10, took the stage to dance with her troupe from Miss Linda’s School of Dance, many wearing tie-dye shirts.

She rocked out for the crowd, joining hands and jumping in time with her fellow dancers. The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as the group finished.

Other performances included the Lincoln-Sudbury A Cappella Group, which sang “Fix You” by Coldplay and “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers; Cape Verdean musician Bunin Barros; and Punk Phenomenon.

The family of Andrew Tavares, who died of a gunshot wound at age 17 in 2010, helped organize the Think Peace event in coordination with the Martin Richard Foundation.

Denise Richard said that Martin and Jane had gone to the Neighborhood House Charter School along with Tavares’s younger brothers.

Mary Tuitt, chief of staff to state Representative Gloria L. Fox, remembered Tavares as a bright teenager with an ever-present grin. She met him while he was interning in their office.

Addressing the crowd, Tuitt said that she and Fox were continually telling him that he was going to go to college. No matter how many times she said that, he responded, “I still have to walk down the street to come home.”

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Still, Tuitt said, Taveres had made the decision the weekend he died that he would go to college.

But on Sunday of that weekend in 2010, as she was preparing to go to church, she got the heartbreaking call from Fox telling her that the two of them needed to go to the Tavares home immediately. Their young intern was dead.

The Think Peace event, Fox said, emphasizes that ordinary community members must actively engage their young people to help prevent future losses.

“We’re trying to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people,” said Isaura Mendes, a peace activist who lost two sons to violence. Her sister, Domingas Carvalho, lost three sons to violence. A third sister, who wasn’t present, also lost a son, they said.

Carvalho said that each of her sons had children of their own. Her youngest son, Leroy Carvalho, was killed during a party the night before his 31st birthday.

Leroy’s son, who was 3 at the time of his father’s death, is “still saying that a monster picked up his dad . . . and won’t bring him back,” Carvalho said.

The sisters said Sarah Mausner, a social worker and one of the Think Peace organizers, was an incredible source of support during the loss of their son. The event has grown significantly from past years, Mausner said.

When a family has lost a loved one to violence, said Mausner, “You just listen. They’ll let you know what they need.”

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Nicole Fleming can be reached at nicole.fleming@globe.com.