They buried a quiet hero yesterday.
Carnell Dawson Sr., 43, was remembered during funeral services at Mount Pleasant Church and Ministries for his broad smile, good nature and the jokes he loved to tell. But, also, he was remembered and praised for the simple courage he expressed by standing with his wife against the drug dealers who worked the neighborhood around the 1400 block of E. Preston St.
"Carnell Dawson was a quiet hero, much like thousands of holy, decent, caring, loving parents throughout the city," said Mayor Martin O'Malley. "He stood his ground and what he did was right. He substituted courage for the caution that many of us too often display."
More than two weeks have passed since someone kicked in the front door of the Dawsons' home at 1401 E. Preston St., poured gasoline throughout the first floor, then set the three-story rowhouse ablaze. In that time, there have been rallies and finger-pointing, as well as second-guessing on what could have been done differently to protect a family from retaliation. And there have been two sets of funerals.
Last week, Dawson's wife, Angela, 36, and five of their children - Keith and Kevin Dawson, both 9; Carnell Dawson Jr., 10; Juan Ortiz, 12; and LaWanda Ortiz, 14 - were buried after an emotional funeral attended by hundreds. Police were set up along Radecke Avenue that day and throughout the parking lot to direct traffic. The sight of six caskets arranged in the center of Mount Pleasant's sanctuary unnerved even the strongest hearts.
Yesterday there was one casket, and a somber mood that never reached the high emotional pitch of the previous week's service.
"After these last two weeks, it's as if Baltimore is all cried out," O'Malley said during his brief address.
About 100 people, including a large contingent of family, attended yesterday's service. There were no police directing traffic, no long line of mourners filing past the casket. When the preacher asked if anyone wanted to know more about Jesus Christ, only one person answered his call: John Robert Harrington Sr., whose daughter, grandchildren and son-in-law had perished in the fire.
As with the earlier service, people struggled to bring some meaning to the tragedy. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings asked that Dawson's death, and those of his family, "be a catalyst to make life better for so many people."
There were also stories about Dawson - how he always lent a hand at Sandy Plains Elementary School in Baltimore County, site of his most recent construction job; how he was the preacher when playing church with his siblings growing up in Bristow, Okla.
Dawson survived the Oct. 16 fire by jumping out of a second-story window. He died a week later.
In the Rev. Clifford M. Johnson's sermon, he found inspiration in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." That was the story of Dawson's life and death, said Johnson.
"What must the uncompromisingly righteous do? We must fight the good fight of faith," he said. "Get into the fight. Get into the struggle."