KEY POINTS:
Emma Agnew had just started talking about finding her "Mr Right". She wanted to become a bar manager and looked forward to travelling to the Gold Coast next year for a sports tournament.
But the 20-year-old deaf Christchurch woman never got a chance to achieve any of these
goals when she was suffocated to death and dumped in bush north of Christchurch last month.
Liam James Reid, 35, has been charged with her murder.
More than 800 mourners who gathered to farewell Ms Agnew in Christchurch yesterday preferred to focus on what the popular young woman did achieve in her life, rather than what she missed out on.
The deaf and the hearing spilled out into the foyer of the packed Aurora Centre at Burnside High School for the funeral service, which was conducted in sign language with interpreters for the hearing.
Video footage of the service was streamed live to centres across the country.
Friends and family described Ms Agnew as a big family person, a daddy's girl, a sociable woman with a great sense of humour, a tireless worker for the deaf community, and a Ford "fanatic".
When she was born, a doctor told her deaf parents, Henry and Louise, how sorry he was that she was deaf.
But her parents were not concerned at all, said celebrant Tony Walton.
She grew up to do extremely well in English - a subject most deaf people did not like - got her driver's licence and became a top performer in deaf sports such as netball.
"She was a girl of many talents. She definitely could have been one of our leaders," Mr Walton said.
When she wasn't immersed in her work with the deaf community, she was often visiting her family - fishing with her father, cuddling up in bed with her mother, or being teased by her brothers.
A video performance by Ms Agnew's idol, deaf rapper Signmark, was played to mourners yesterday.
Meeting him in Spain last year at a world deaf congress had been one of the highlights of her life.
"She had lots of photos taken with Signmark, including where he decided to show his impressive six-pack," said Ms Agnew's uncle, Greg Pateman.
Mourners applauded loudly yesterday as Mr Walton thanked the police for their tireless efforts in finding her.
The service ended with hundreds of balloons being released to celebrate Ms Agnew's life as her coffin was taken away for a private burial.
Deaf community representatives said afterwards that if there was a silver lining to the tragedy, it was how the deaf and hearing communities had been brought closer together.
"It seems almost like this is something Emma wanted," said Nikki Morrison, of the Deaf Sports Federation.