BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's been nearly three months since a devastating fire on New Year's Eve killed five children.
Now their grandmother, Lisa Liggans, who tried to save them, is also being laid to rest.
Lisa Liggans, 64, died earlier this month, after spending months at ECMC with burns covering more than 80 percent of her body.
To know Lisa Liggans was to understand what a fulfilling life truly looked like.
"She made everybody laugh. Laughter is one of the secrets to living long. Laughter. Not anger and animosity," said one of her sons.
It's part of the values she and her husband of 24 years, Clarence Liggans, instilled in their eight children.
"Love. Love. Love conquers all. ... I'm telling you, right now, my mother didn't expect this. Those children didn't expect that. We never know what's going to happen in life, so why wait until something tragic happens in order to change your life?" said Lisa Liggans' son.
The love that Lisa Liggans gave everyone is part of what made her such a blessing since she came into the world in December of 1959.
"She was a unique and cheerful blessing to us," a friend of Liggans' said at the funeral.
Lisa Liggans spent her entire life dedicated to the church, volunteering in many capacities at Victory Temple Church of God and Christ.
One of the many ways she showed her love for God was through song. To know Lisa Liggans was to know that she was a singer for the Var-Son Community Choir.
"She was a mother to many children she did not birth, and took joy in feeding children in the neighborhood," a friend of Liggans' said at the funeral.
But it was also to know a mother who went beyond what was asked of her, and a beloved soul whose life deserves to be celebrated.
"If she brought a smile to you in any way, if she cooked for you any day, if she babysat your bad kids any day, I want you to put your hands together and celebrate the life of Lisa. C'mon. Celebrate. That's how we do it, celebrate," Bishop Darius Pridgen said.
"Celebrate as the mother enters, celebrate the life of your daughter, we are celebrating the life of a friend, the life of a choir member, we are celebrating the life of a mother, the life of a sister, the life of a daughter, the life of an aunt, the life of a friend. There will be none other like Lisa. None other on this earth like Lisa."