Paul K. Kim '96 said he had not prepared his speech because he was going to "do it Gabriel's way," and demonstrated Piedrahita's famous meringue.

Kim also read a verse from John 12:24.

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

Duane A. Cranston '96 wrapped up all of the roommates' recollections, remembering a visit Piedrahita paid him in New York after sopho- more year, in which he told Cranston he was coming just an hour before arriving and then wanted to see the entire city in a single day.

"For me, he epitomized the meaning of learning and the meaning of Harvard," Cranston said. "He showed everyone around him that learning is not about doing the right things in school to get the right job to achieve some socially constructed idea of success. It's about seeing all the beauty that life has to offer, in so many forms."

Housemates and friends of Piedrahita sang "Wanting Memories" by Sweet Honey in the Rock. Participants, including Piedrahita's thesis advisor Professor Martin Weitzman, the stepped to an open microphone to recall their own memories of him.

Piedrahita's father, Vincente, ended the service by thanking members of Piedrahita's "Harvard home" for giving the family a window on his life here.

"You have opened that window wide," he said