The pews were filled.
The sadness felt amidst the favorite color of Reverend David Dingwall.
Dingwall served as the pastor of the St. Paul’s by The Sea Episcopal Church for the last eight years.
Some people during his funeral service held at the St. Peters Lutheran Church yesterday called him a beacon of hope.
Carl Mosley told WBOC that Dingwall always did everything he could do to help people.
As difficult as his passing was how he died was even tougher.
Fire
OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - Ocean City officials say a church fire that killed the pastor was caused by a man who put gasoline on himself, set himself on fire and ran into the church ablaze.
The Ocean City Fire Marshal's Office said Tuesday that an investigation showed that 56-year-old John Sterner purchased gasoline shortly before the Nov. 26 fire.
Authorities say Sterner then ran into St. Paul's By-The-Sea Episcopal Church, and the fire to spread from him to the structure.
Sterner and Dingwall, were killed in the fire. A woman who police did not identify was injured and remains at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center in Baltimore.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled Dingwall's death a homicide and Sterner's death a suicide.
