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The casket carrying the remains of Tiger Bech is carried by pallbearers for the Mass of Christian Burial for Tiger Bech, who passed away on Wednesday Jan.1, 2025 in New Orleans during the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, at Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Monday, January 6, 2025 in Lafayette, La.
. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP Mourners gather for a Mass of Christian Burial for Tiger Bech, who passed away on Wednesday Jan.1, 2025 in New Orleans during the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, at Cathedral of St.
John the Evangelist on Monday, January 6, 2025 in Lafayette, La.. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP Mourners gather for a Mass of Christian Burial for Tiger Bech, who passed away on Wednesday Jan.
1, 2025 in New Orleans during the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, at Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Monday, January 6, 2025 in Lafayette, La..
STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP The Mass of Christian Burial for Tiger Bech, who passed away on Wednesday Jan.1, 2025 in New Orleans during the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, at Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Monday, January 6, 2025 in Lafayette, La.
. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP The casket carrying the remains of Tiger Bech is carried by pallbearers for the Mass of Christian Burial for Tiger Bech, who passed away on Wednesday Jan.1, 2025 in New Orleans during the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, at Cathedral of St.
John the Evangelist on Monday, January 6, 2025 in Lafayette, La.. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP The casket carrying the remains of Tiger Bech is carried by pallbearers for the Mass of Christian Burial for Tiger Bech, who passed away on Wednesday Jan.
1, 2025 in New Orleans during the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, at Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Monday, January 6, 2025 in Lafayette, La..
STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save In the church where he once served as an altar boy, former classmates, teammates, friends and family of Tiger Bech gathered on Monday to bid farewell to Bech, who was fatally injured in a terrorist attack in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year's Day. At at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette, Martin Bech and Michelle Voorhies Bech, parents of Tiger Bech, were joined by a full church as they took in their last observances of Bech.
"I watched Tiger grow into the best, happiest version of himself," his older sister Virginia Bech told mourners from the pulpit, where she stood, flanked by her siblings and clutching a tiger plushie. After graduating from St. Thomas More High School in 2015, Bech completed a postgraduate year at The Loomis-Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut.
He then went on to Princeton University, where he graduated in 2021 with his degree in finance. He was a starting wide receiver and punt return specialist for the Princeton Tigers football team, where he received numerous All-Ivy honors. After graduation, Bech moved to New York City, where he worked in cybersecurity.
He then became a trader at a New York brokerage firm. Earlier last year, Bech began his dream job in finance as an analyst at Wall Street firm Seaport Global in Manhattan, together with his best friend Ryan Quigley, who was severely injured in the attack while the two celebrated the new year on Bourbon Street. "Every single person is here for you too," Bech's younger sister Sophie Bech told Quigley, who was seated in a wheelchair in the front row.
"We will take such good care of you." Reverend Andrew Schumacher also addressed Quigley, who had been carried up the church steps to attend his friend's funeral. "Thank you for fighting, thank you for loving, thank you for being here," Schumacher told Quigley.
"You're broken, you're bloodied and you're bruised. And you're here because you love your best friend." In a jovial speech that garnered laughter from an otherwise solemn crowd, Schumacher remembered a young man who loved his family and didn't hesitate to show it.
Schumacher recounted Christmas Day at the family's Lafayette home on what would become Bech's "farewell tour." Tiger and his brother, Jack, were lounging around, cracking jokes and eggs for an omelet until there were none left. He recalled a call Bech made to his grandmother on New Year's Eve, just hours before his death.
"How many grandchildren think of their grandmother on New Year's Eve?" Tiger, Schumacher continued, was blessed with an abundance of charisma, the kind that made you want to be his best friend instantly. "Not many could fill this church," Schumacher told the overflowing nave. But Tiger did.
Bech was one of 14 people who died in the New Year's Day terrorist attack in New Orleans . All victims died of blunt force injuries, the coroner's office said. Bech died late Wednesday morning, in the company of his parents.
"He was my best friend, my role model, my number one fan," Jack Bech, a fellow St. Thomas Moore graduate and football player, who currently plays wide receiver for Texas Christian University, said of his older brother. Despite the violent tragedy that struck their family, the siblings, holding onto each other for support, shared a unified message of love.
"Love, abundant love. This world needs it, now more than ever," Virginia Bech told the crowd..
