Clinton Lewis/Daily News

PELLVILLE Pellville Baptist Churchs pews were filled Sunday as residents celebrated the life of Western Kentucky University student Katie Autry, who died Wednesday as the result of a May 4 fire in her Hugh Poland Hall dorm room. The service was planned by her little sister, 17-year-old Lisa Autry. The girls spent the past 11 years growing up in Pellville as the foster children of Jim and Shirley Inman, who comforted and were comforted by the more than 300 people at Sundays memorial. The back wall of the church was lined with workers from the ambulance service and fire department; Jim Inman is the director of the countys Emergency Operations Center. There also were members of Autrys birth family at the service, including her mother, Donnie Autry of Rosine. None of the family spoke to the media. Before the service, Western Police Chief Robert Deane offered his condolences to those in attendance. We are doing everything we can to bring this to a conclusion, Deane said. And I want you to know we made one arrest late last night. But Deane, who was accompanied by Western President Gary Ransdell, Vice President Gene Tice, Dean of Students Howard Bailey, Assistant Vice President for University Relations Bob Edwards and university attorney Deborah Wilkins, said he could not offer any further details. Deane earlier asked the family to be careful of what they said publicly about the case, according to Pellville Baptists pastor, the Rev. Chuck Fuller. Fuller said the family was comforted by the news that an arrest had been made. Deane didnt mention the mans name, but police charged 21-year-old Scottsville resident Lucas B. Goodrum with murder. During the service, pictures of Katie and Lisa Autry growing up, along with their friends at Hancock County High School, flashed on a screen at the front of church while music such as REO Speedwagons Keep on Loving You and Boyz II Mens Its So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday played. Teens who had been on the cheer squad with Autry hugged each other and shook with sobs as scenes from high school, including several prom pictures, were shown on the screen. Standing barely above the churchs podium as Katie would have, as the sisters shared a short stature Lisa Autry read letters and poems she had written for her sister. She touched us deeper than anyone could have, she said. Fuller told the congregation he knows they are seeking truth. The investigation can serve to clear our minds, but only Gods truth can heal our souls, he said. Its OK to admit today that Katie wasnt perfect, he continued, going on to relay a favorite story of his. At a football game, Autry was entrusted with holding up the Big sign as part of Go Big Red for the Hancock County Hornets. She could rarely get the sign up in the air on time … and the one time she did, it was upside down, he said. It became a running joke with the churchs youth group, of which Autry was an active member. Theyd chide her about the cheer when shed walk in the room. Ah, shut up, Fuller said, imitating Autrys higher-pitched voice. That generated a few smiles and laughs. Today, Katie is perfect in Christ … holy, healed and blameless, he said. … What happened to Katie is unspeakably evil, but evil is our fault; God is love. But, he said, faith and love in Christ can help bring friends and family through the ordeal. Nothing … not fire, not murder, can take this love away, he said. Outside the church, some friends spoke briefly about Autry. She was a very sweet girl, said Daniel Robertson, a high-school acquaintance who was still at University of Kentucky when he learned of the fire. I cant imagine what kind of person would do that. Like many others, Robertson remembered Autrys vivacious smile and infectious laugh. Heather McMahon leaned on a friends shoulder and told him she was all cried out. McMahon had driven to Kentucky on Saturday from Florida, where she now lives. I met Katie when I was a freshman … and she was my best friend for two years, she said. The two of them cheered together until McMahon moved to Florida. Church member Della Case, who sat earlier clenching a tissue, described Autry as a sweet girl. We have a good group of youth here at the church, she said. Fuller said Autry, who showed great perseverance and inner strength, was involved in many church activities, including mission trips. McMahon said Autry always gave 110 percent of her energy to everything she did … She shouldnt be gone. Autrys funeral will be today at 2 p.m. at William L. Danks Funeral Home in Beaver Dam, with burial in Rosine Cemetery.