NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Funeral processions are rolling through a grieving Connecticut town for another day.

7-year-old Daniel Barden, the youngest of three children, was recalled by his family as "always smiling" and "unfailingly polite."

Hundreds of firefighters formed a long blue line outside a Catholic church. Daniel wanted to join their ranks one day. Some firefighters came from New York, where his family has relatives who are firefighters.

One Newtown man who has been to one of the funerals and plans to attend two or three more says it seems that all he hears now are motorcycle escorts and funeral processions. He says, "It's just a constant reminder."

Mourners wore pink ties and scarves at the funeral of 6-year-old Caroline Previdi -- pink was her favorite color. Across town, hundreds gathered for the funeral of another 6-year-old, Charlotte Helen Bacon. Many wore buttons with pictures of the 6-year-old redhead.

Long funeral processions have been filling the streets of Newtown, where Christmas trees have been turned into memorials. At least nine funerals and wakes were held Wednesday for the victims.

A priest who worked at a Catholic church in Newtown before transferring to a church in Greenwich is back at his old parish to comfort families. The Rev. John Inserra says, ``It's sad to see the little coffins,'' and that it's ``always hard to bury a child.''

In the town of Stratford, a teacher who was gunned down during the shootings in Newtown was remembered as a hero who died trying to shield her students. Outside Victoria Soto's funeral, a family friend said it's "pretty apparent" how selfless she was.

Soto was among six educators who died along with 20 children.

A longtime friend says yhe 27-year-old "loved her job" and always described her students as "good kids."

Peter Rusatsky praises Soto's actions. He says "any teacher would do it and not blink and just do whatever had to be done to protect those children."

Fairfield police Chief Gary MacNamara attended the funeral. He calls Soto a "tremendous hero" and says sacrificing her life was "the ultimate strength."

Hundreds of mourners flocked to a wake in suburban Katonah, N.Y. for one of the teachers killed in the Newtown, Conn. school shooting.

They waited in line, some for more than an hour, outside The Clark Associates funeral home Wednesday to pay respects for 52-year-old Anne Marie Murphy.

The former Katonah resident is survived by four children, her husband, her parents and six brothers and sisters.  A nephew of Murphy, Taylor McGowan, commented on the large turnout, saying "if you knew her, you wouldn't be surprised."

One of her children is a nursing student at Western Connecticut State University.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is expected to preach at Murphy's funeral. Her relatives say they are praying "for all the families touched so terribly."

A family member read a statement from Anne Marie Murphy's relatives before her funeral Thursday. They said they prayed "that God may help these feelings of such great pain and grief pass quickly."

Archdiocese of New York spokesman Joseph Zwilling says Dolan wants "to express his support for all who lost their lives in Newtown and their families."