Professor Mark W. Stamm delivers the benediction at the end of Thursday Service of Memory in Perkins Chapel. The service commemorated members of the SMU community who have passed away this year. (Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)

SMU held a Service of Memory Thursday afternoon to honor those in the SMU community who have passed away during the past year.

Several professors, trustees, staff members and three students were honored at the ceremony in Perkins Chapel.

Mark Stamm, the associate professor of Christian worship at the Perkins School of Theology, presided over the ceremony.

A litany of remembrance was read in the Christian tradition and a Kaddish, a Jewish prayer for the dead, was recited in Hebrew and in English.

During the service, Stamm and Judy Henneberger, the associate chaplain, read the names of the deceased and friends and family stood to show support for their loved ones.

“My friend D’Anna Chance was one of the people who passed away,” Brandon Lazarus, a student at the Perkins School of Theology, said. “I came in part to honor her and in part to recognize and honor the passing of those others in our community.”

This is the 13th year SMU has held a Service of Memory for the deceased.

“I think it’s important for SMU to have a Service of Memory to show that we truly are a family in that we truly value and honor and respect the staff, professors and students who are a part of this university,” Yvette Blair, a resident community chaplain in Virginia-Snider, said.