Hundreds of mourners gathered on Saturday for the funeral of three Quebec children who, cops said, were killed by their mother.
Sonia Blanchette was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday, three days after Laurelie, 5, Loic, 4, and Anais, 2 were found dead at their mother's home, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
"It hurts my heart … they were three angels," said one man who attended the service.
The CBC reports that Blanchette lost custody of her children in early 2012.
At the memorial, the father, Patrick Desautels, carried a photograph of his three children, according to CTV News.
"He's surrounded by people who love him," his aunt, France Malo, said.
Blanchette's co-workers told the Calgary Herald that she would spend time unnecessarily cleaning ovens at the restaurant where she was employed because the extra work helped her forget how much she missed her kids.
"She frequently told me, 'I can't wait to see my kids, they're coming over on Sunday,'" said Daniel Jones, a night-time kitchen supervisor at Cite Grecque restaurant. "She was a scrubber -- she was working all the time. She would say, 'It does me good because I don't think about my children.'"
Authorities are still investigating the circumstances of the children's death.