CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Hundreds of friends, family members and fellow local and state government officials streamed into Church by the Glades in Coral Springs on Friday morning to celebrate the life of Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer.

Some hugged and sobbed by her casket. Others wailed and screamed, raising their arms in the air. Many wore orange and green ribbons around their necks, Metayer’s favorite colors. On two screens next to the stage, a slideshow showed pictures of her. Throughout the service, a photo of Metayer was displayed on a large screen backdropping the stage with the words: “She came. She saw. She conquered.”

A large spray of white flowers were laid across the top of her casket. Pastor Getro Dorvil read scripture focusing on God’s plans. Christian hymns were sung in English and Creole. Flags were flown at half-staff at the state Capitol building and on government buildings in Coral Springs on Friday in her honor. More than 1,400 people watched her service live-streamed online.

On April 1, Metayer, 38, was shot and killed in her home. Her husband is charged in her death.

Speakers at her service vowed that Metayer will be remembered for nothing but her life, legacy and the compassion and hard work she exemplified.

At 38 years old, Metayer had by all accounts a promising and bright future in public service. She had been planning to announce a bid for Congress.

Long before winning her election in Coral Springs in 2020, Metayer’s spirit for public service was evident during her days at Coral Springs Charter School as the vice president of her senior class, according to a biography included in her funeral program.

Richard Brookshire read Metayer’s eulogy. He was her very first political opponent — in high school at Coral Springs Charter School, when Metayer was already a “skilled politician,” passing out warm Krispy Kreme doughnuts to campaign. He lost that election, he said, receiving laughs from the crowd. But that was the beginning of their friendship.

Metayer earned an academic scholarship to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where she joined the Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority and led in student life and government. She held internships at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the White House during Obama’s administration and the Clinton Foundation before earning her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Commissioner Joshua Simmons said during his speech Metayer “carried Coral Springs with her” no matter where she served or where she went.

“Nancy will not be remembered for how her life ended. She will be remembered for how she lived,” he said to applause from the churchgoers. “For how she showed up, for how she made the city better …”

Her brother Francelin Metayer thanked those in attendance for celebrating his sister.

“She was loved, she was kind, she was my everything,” he said. “Where can I describe, where can I describe what she meant to me? There’s so much to say, but so little time.”

Her sister, Jennifer Metayer-Smith, said while most in the room knew her as a public servant, Metayer was her big sister and her “built-in best friend.” She recalled a moment in their life growing up together where their mother said if anything happened to their parents, Metayer would take on the role as mother.

“When she heard that, she ran with it,” she said, despite not being the oldest sibling.

She showed up for them all. Metayer-Smith recalled lighthearted moments they shared as big and little sister, the transitions to FAMU they made together only a few years apart, Metayer being there for the birth of Metayer-Smith’s daughter, the annual trips they took together, their phone calls each day.

“She taught me humility, that nothing was too big to take on, to find the joy in a challenge and how being your authentic self was the only way,” Metayer-Smith said.

Another title she held, said Itohan Ighodaro during her remarks, was her “chief delegation officer.” She could get her loved ones to do “things they didn’t even sign up for or agree to.”

“And honestly knowing you, I know heaven is not the same today as it was yesterday,” she said. “You’re probably already in there delegating angels to re-arrange things around. And making sure everything is running with excellence like only you can.”

Santra Denis discovered later in life, after meeting Metayer when they were both fellows in New Leaders Council Broward, that their fathers grew up on the same street in Haiti and they had been junior bridesmaids in family weddings together as kids. She learned they were cousins after meeting her and asking her about her last name.

“I’m forever grateful that we found our way back to each other because that’s what happens when you have people that are meant for you,” Denis said.

As a first-generation Haitian-American, Metayer’s Haitian roots were treasured in her life in and outside of politics.

Her first official role was in her parents’ home country, where she worked in recovery efforts after the earthquake in 2010, her biography read.

And with her election in 2020, she became the first Black and Haitian-American woman to hold a seat on the Coral Springs City Commission. Appointed as vice mayor by her fellow commissioners in 2024, it was the position she was most proud of, her biography read.

At her service, a Haitian and American flag were displayed on the stage. The Haitian Creole hymn “Pi devan na wè” was sung. In reading her eulogy, Brookshire said she was always a “Zoe” at heart, an endearing Creole slang term for Haitians.

State Rep. Marie Woodson, who was born in Port-de-Paix, Haiti, said, “Nancy was more Haitian than I was,” as the crowd laughed. Her heritage instilled a deep respect for her family, her friends, her colleagues and the residents she dedicated her career to serving.

She recalled attending an event with Metayer where they were the only two Black women in the room and the only two Haitian women in the room. Metayer had joked about whether they entered the wrong address into the GPS, Woodson said. The moment inspired them both.

“From that day, we started talking. Nancy and I, the next event that we went to, we made sure that we took two young women with us and that was on purpose,” Woodson said to applause.

With all of the titles she held in her life, Brookshire referred to her as now an ancestor.

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