Kristjan Ndoj Will Be Remembered as 'A Remarkably Good Kid'

More than 300 mourners gathered at St. Joseph Parish in Shelton Thursday morning to remember 15-year-old Kristjan Ndoj, who was laid to rest later that afternoon.

Ndoj passed away on March 20 after suffering gunshots to the head and leg the Saturday before, March 15. Shelton police said Wednesday the investigation is still ongoing.

The funeral service Thursday opened with a reading from the Book of Wisdom by Shelton High School Headmaster Dr. Beth Smith and another from one of Ndoj’s cousin’s in the family’s native Albanian tongue.

The readings were followed by an Albanian eulogy by Rev. Peter Popaj, pastor of Our Lady of Shkodra in Hartsdale, NY, and another in English by St. Joseph Parish Pastor Chris Walsh

Monsignor Walsh’s eulogy [see video above] told the story of boy who was not only bright and “in the bloom of life,” but also one who was uncommonly kind.

He retold a story about how Kristjan, sitting with his family recently after they had become homeowners for the first time in the U.S., told his parents they only had a few more years of work ahead of them. By that time, he said, he would have gone to college, gotten a well-paying job and would take care of them.

“Kids, I don’t want to dis your generation but I’m dissing my generation, too — in my age or your age, how many of us think about that at age 15?” Monsignor Walsh asked the many students in attendance. “He really was a remarkably good kid.”

Walsh left everyone in the church and the city with a challenge.

“I challenge all of us in this city to remember Kristjan Ndoj, who in a short life really showed us how remarkable, even in our age, people can be as they embrace goodness and love and caring for others.”