‘Heartbroken’ Michelle Obama to attend Saturday funeral of Hadiya Pendleton BY MICHAEL SNEED Chicago Sun-Times Columnist 
 
 Updated: 
 
 A “heartbroken” first lady Michelle Obama is planning on attending the Saturday funeral services for slain teenager Hadiya Pendleton, who has become a national symbol for the growing problem of gun and gang violence in the city of Chicago. 
 
 Obama will be accompanied to the funeral by Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. 
 
 “As a mother and Chicagoan, the first lady was heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss of Hadiya Pendleton due to senseless gun violence,” said Kristina Schake, the first lady’s communications director. “Too many times, we’ve seen young people struck down with so much of their lives ahead of them. The first lady is traveling to her funeral on Saturday to offer her condolences and support to Hadiya’s family and loved ones.” 
 
 Hadiya was gunned down last month at a North Kenwood neighborhood park. 
 
 Hadiya attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration last month, performing as a baton-twirling majorette with her King College Prep school band at a party sponsored by U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis. The teen had condemned gun violence in a 2008 public service announcement. 
 
 The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Thursday: “She went to the White House to see the president, and now the people in the White House are coming to see her. But they’ll not see her, they’ll view her, and that is so painful.” 
 
 Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she’s “grateful” the first lady is returning to Chicago to pay her respects to the family of a child who died in a community both women call home. 
 
 “It’s less than a mile from where I live. This impacts the community in which we both live and the ward in which we both live,” Preckwinkle, who lives in the Hyde Park-Kenwood area of Chicago, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. 
 
 The park where Hadiya was killed is also less the a mile from the Obama family’s Kenwood home. 
 
 “I am grateful that the first lady will be coming to the city. It will increase attention to this issue — the disturbing level of gun violence in our city. I know it will be of great consolation to the Pendleton family,” Preckwinkle said, adding that, she, too will be at the Saturday service. 
 
 During an unrelated news conference this week, Preckwinkle reflected on Hadiya’s death and the loss of a “promising” young woman. 
 
 She said again Thursday: “Frankly the deaths of any of our young people is a tragedy. Sometimes we make distinctions between those who are young and promising and those who are gang-involved,” but she said that “redemption” is always possible, and those youths with problems shouldn’t be forgotten. 
 
 “A lot of troubled teenagers turn out to be responsible adults,” she said. 
 
 Hadiya’s wake and funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Greater Harvest Baptist Church, 5141 S. State. The family chose the church because it can accommodate between 800 and 1,000 people. 
 
 Shatira Wilks, Hadiya’s cousin, said Thursday that the family was now immersed in the logistics accompanying the first lady’s presence at the funeral. 
 
 “Our whole dynamics have changed,” Wilks said. 
 
 Contributing: Lisa Donovan ||||| Michelle Obama will attend the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. 
 
 WASHINGTON -- First lady Michelle Obama plans to attend Saturday’s funeral in Chicago for 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was fatally shot last week about a mile from the Obama family’s Kenwood home 
 
 Pendleton, an honor student and band majorette at King College Prep, had participated in inaugural festivities near Washington about a week before her death. 
 
 The White House announced today that the first lady would attend the Saturday morning services at Greater Harvest Baptist Church on the South Side. The first lady is not expected to make public remarks, and the Obamas’ daughters, Malia and Sasha, are not expected to accompany their mother. 
 
 “As a mother and Chicagoan, the first lady was heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss of Hadiya Pendleton due to senseless gun violence,” said Kristina Schake, communications director for Michelle Obama. “Too many times, we’ve seen young people struck down with so much of their lives ahead of them. The first lady is traveling to her funeral on Saturday to offer her condolences and support to Hadiya’s family and loved ones.” 
 
 Scheduled to speak at the funeral is Gov. Pat Quinn, who mentioned Pendleton during his annual State of the State speech on Wednesday as he called for tougher gun control measures. Quinn said he spoke to the teen’s family this week. 
 
 
 
 "There are no words in the English language, or any language, to relieve the pain of parents who lose a child," said Quinn, who has two adult sons. 
 
 
 
 A White House source said senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Education Secretary Arne Duncan also will attend the funeral. Both are Chicagoans. 
 
 
 
 Community activists had urged the Obamas to come to Chicago to speak out about recent violence. A petition on the White House website had called on the Obamas to attend Pendleton’s funeral. 
 
 
 
 The president reached out to the family last week to offer his condolences, according to people close to the family. Early on, the family had expressed concern that the president’s attendance would overshadow the funeral and make it difficult for Pendleton’s many friends to say their goodbyes to her. 
 
 
 
 After learning today that the first lady planned to attend, Shatira Wilks, a cousin who serves as the family’s spokesperson, said they are still committed to making the funeral a celebration of the teen’s life. 
 
 
 
 “It’s a nice gesture and we appreciate it,” Wilks said. “But that is who we are.” 
 
 
 
 Those close to the family said the parents are still trying to come to grips with what has happened. 
 
 
 
 “It’s a lot to take in. It’s an overwhelming experience,” said LaKeisha Stewart, Hadiya’s godmother. “We are very thankful the people are coming to support the family. We realize that this young lady has touched a lot of people and this goes beyond us.” 
 
 
 
 Pendleton was killed at Harsh Park on Jan. 29, near the end of the deadliest January for Chicago homicides in a decade. There is a $40,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the teen’s death. 
 
 Visitation is scheduled for 2 to 9 p.m. Friday in Calahan Funeral Home at 7030 S. Halsted St. On Saturday, the wake continues at 9 a.m. followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. in Greater Harvest Baptist Church, 5141 S. State St. 
 
 Tribune reporters Kathleen Hennessey and Monique Garcia contributed to this report. 
 
 
 
 dglanton@tribune.com 
 
 kskiba@tribune.com
– Michelle Obama will attend Saturday's funeral for Hadiya Pendleton, the Chicago teen killed not long after performing at President Obama's inauguration, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Alongside Obama will be adviser Valerie Jarrett and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, also Chicagoans, reports the Tribune. No arrests have been made in the shooting, but a $40,000 reward remains. Police think the 15-year-old got shot accidentally amid a turf war between gangs.