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MIAMI (CBS4) ― Family, friends and members of the community attended Monday's funeral for a South Florida mother who committed her life to the protection of children after losing her son to a sexual predator.

It was a sight that assuredly would have brought a smile to the face of 66-year-old Claudine Ryce, who died last week from an apparent heart attack. Bloodhounds walked into her funeral service at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Palmetto Bay Monday morning, a show of respect by their handlers for the work Ryce has done over the years on behalf of missing and endangered children.

A funeral mass was held at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Palmetto Bay. Ryce was then laid to rest next to the body of her son at Woodlawn Park South Cemetery.

During the memorial service, Claudine's husband Don reminded those in attendance not just remember his wife's grief and strength, but to remember a woman who had many facets to her character. "Even though our eyes were always tinged with sadness, Claudine always retained the capacity to laugh," said Ryce.

Don eulogized his wife by saying, "Whenever I would feel sorry for myself she would push me out of it. She would say, 'Come on, we have too much to do.'" He also said of her work on behalf of children, "We must continue that fight for her sake, but she can never be replaced."

Don and Claudine's 8-year old son Jimmy was kidnapped on September 11th, 1995 while walking home from the school bus stop in the Redland. The little boy's dismembered body was found three months after his disappearance. He had been raped and shot by a farm worker, Juan Carlos Chavez, who now sits on Florida's Death Row.

With the passing of his wife, Don Ryce said he's comforted by a single thought. "I wish I could be there to see it because I know she is feeling comfort and joy having Jimmy back in her arms," said Ryce.

That tragedy prompted the Ryce's-- both career lawyers-- to become tireless advocates for the protection of children. The Jimmy Ryce Act created new protections against sexual predators. Miami Republican state senator Alex Villalobos said, "It just goes to show how you can turn something so terrible into something positive."

The couple also pushed to get bloodhounds for police departments to help search for missing children.

Tenacious and tenderhearted, the 66-year-old career lawyer was a pillar of strength for other parents who knew her anguish firsthand. Roy Brown came to the funeral service from Tampa to say thank you. His 7-year-old daughter was murdered, and though her killer was found, the child's body was never recovered. Brown said, "Claudine held my hand. She had her own problems, but she always pushed them aside for everyone else."

Ryce said of his wife, "Claudine did not ask for any of this; she did not ask to be a crusader. But she took it up with grace, courage and determination."

Now her husband vows to try and keep a promise they had made to one another. He wants to live to see his son's killer executed.

"It is not that we are dominated by thoughts of him," Ryce said of Chavez, "but justice requires he give his life for what he took from our son's."

Family friends recounted how Jimmy Rice used to sit between his mom and dad in bed, and they would read together as a family. Now Claudine Ryce is laid to rest next to the little boy who was her life, and whose death revealed her grace, character and determination to a community now in her debt.

Anyone wishing to make a donation in the memory of Claudine Ryce can contact:

Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction
900 Bay Drive East
Suite 201
Miami Beach, FL 33141 
jimmyryce.org

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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