Town begins funerals for bank slaying victims

? Rob Bryant buried his bride of seven weeks Monday in the first of five funerals resulting from last week’s bank robbery in this small Nebraska town.

“It’s just not fair. Life can change in a few minutes,” said Rob Bryant, who married 29-year-old Lisa Bryant on Aug. 10. The two honeymooned on a Caribbean cruise.

Bryant and four others were slain Thursday at a U.S. Bank branch in Norfolk. Four men have been charged with first-degree murder in the crime, one of the deadliest bank robberies in the nation’s history.

Investigators say they do not believe the men got away with any money. A bank audit continues.

More than 400 people attended Bryant’s funeral. The funeral for another bank employee, 43-year-old Lola Elwood, was also held Monday. Services will be held today for the other victims customer Evonne Tuttle, 37, and bank employees Samuel Sun, 50, and Jo Mausbach, 42.

Bryant leaves a 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old stepdaughter. After the funeral, her family asked that this be a time to celebrate her life.

“She had the biggest smile you ever saw. Life just overflowed and she just leaped and jumped at everything you saw,” said Bryant’s mother, Coni Johnson.

Rob Bryant, left, whose wife, Lisa, was one of five victims of Thursday's attempted bank robbery in Norfolk, Neb., talks to the media after Lisa Bryant's funeral. With him Monday were his children Brook, left, and Jordyn, and Lisa's mother, Coni Johnson, top right.

Bryant was remembered for her passion for life and a penchant for trying new things, such as attending the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.

Later, many of the same faces were seen at the funeral for Elwood, a wife and mother of two children, ages 9 and 12.

She was described by First United Methodist Church Rev. James Wallasky as a caring mother who collected butterflies and whose family loved camping and fishing. Some at the church wore butterflies on their clothing in her honor.

“I have seen this community face terrible tragedy, and in the midst of that, I have seen a community at its best,” Wallasky told mourners. “You have not fallen away from each other but have connected.”

Another funeral is scheduled for Wednesday for state trooper Mark Zach, 35, who shot himself to death the day after the holdup. Authorities say he stopped one of the suspects a week before the robbery but failed to learn the man’s weapon was stolen.

Zach left behind a wife and seven children, ages 2 to 15.

Gov. Mike Johanns asked that flags throughout the state be flown at half staff through Wednesday in honor of the victims.