Hundreds of people gathered in a Bathurst, N.B., church on Thursday to honour a teacher, wife, mother and friend who died with seven teenagers in a highway crash last weekend.

A private funeral was held for Elizabeth Lord, an elementary school teacher killed in the crash that took the lives of seven basketball players on the team her husband coached.

Elizabeth Lord was a teacher at Terry Fox Elementary School.
(Courtesy John McLaughlin)

Lord, 51, died when the van she was travelling in struck a tractor-trailer near Bathurst. Seven teenagers, members of the Bathurst High School boys' basketball team, also died in the horrific accident.

Lord's husband, Phantoms basketball coach Wayne Lord, was driving the van and the team back from a game in Moncton.

Wayne Lord, the couple's 17-year-old daughter and two other basketball players were injured but survived.

Friends of Elizabeth Lord, a math teacher at Terry Fox Elementary School, said she had gone to the game for the chance to spend more time with her family.

"Beth is so talented, we started to list the things that we thought she was an exceptional person with," said Kathy Conde, a close friend of Lord.

Lord was a talented seamstress, a phenomenal cook and could play many instruments and sing, Conde said. She also was actively involved with local figure skating.

She was known for her passion for music, said Beth Stymiest, principal at South Bathurst Elementary School, where Lord once taught.

Lord loved to laugh and hosted many staff parties, Stymiest said.

"She believed everyone could learn to sing and tried to prove with it with her karaoke machine, but results were mixed," Stymiest remembered.

One of her former students, Andrew Hartlen, said Lord's influence inspired him to become a musician.

"The thing I remember the most is the way she got everyone involved in the class," said Hartlen, 23, who now lives in Halifax. "Maybe music wasn't their [students'] favourite thing in the world, but they still felt comfortable because she would help them."

'Thank you Beth for bringing our boys home'

Lord was the only adult to die in the accident. Among the cards and signs commemorating the students at Bathurst High School on Thursday was a note reading: "Thank you Beth for bringing our boys home."

At Terry Fox Elementary School, finger paintings and gold stars made up a memorial for the teacher.

"They've lost somebody that believed in them and was willing to work hard to help them become the best people that they could be," principal Shari Smith-Ellis told CBC News.

Lord is survived by her husband and two daughters, Katie, 17, who has been released from the hospital since the crash, and Lindsay, 23, who recently got engaged.

Family friend Anne Riordon said she worries about Wayne Lord.

"Wayne is such a selfless person that I think he's been more concerned about everybody else's grief as his own," Riordon said.

Bathurst's hearts are with Wayne Lord, Mayor Stephen Brunet said at Wednesday's public funeral service for the young men.

"He guided and coached thousands of young men over the years. Today, he too mourns, not only the loss of seven members of his team, but the loss of Beth, his wife, and mother to Katie and Lindsay. Wayne, we're here for you," Brunet said.

Public service draws thousands

Wednesday's public service drew thousands of people to a large arena in Bathurst Wednesday.

As many as 6,000 people — many dressed in Bathurst High School's red and black — filled the K.C. Irving Civic Centre to pay their respects to the boys through eulogies, prayer and song.

Nathan Cleland, Justin Cormier, Daniel Hains, Javier Acevedo and Codey Branch were 17 years old, while Nickolas Quinn was 16 and Nicholas Kelly was 15.

Premier Shawn Graham and Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet attended, while Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean and Pope Benedict sent personal messages of condolence.

With files from the Canadian Press