Memorial for Michelle (From This Is Local London)

Memorial for Michelle

4:20pm Wednesday 17th August 2005 in

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Michelle Otto loved living in London she had a penchant for playing poker, reading novels and shopping in Regent Street and Bond Street for designer labels she could barely afford.

On Monday, 39 days after the bombing attacks of July 7 which took her life, the gentle, generous and much-loved friend and family member was buried in Hendon.

Michelle, 46, originally from Romania, was travelling to her work as a dental technician when an explosion hit the Piccadilly Line train she was on, just after King's Cross.

After an agonising wait of more than a month, her family will now begin the slow process of trying to get on with their lives. The elegant service at Hendon Cemetery Chapel, close to the Mill Hill home which she shared with her sister, Dania Gorodi, was held at 2.30pm.

More than 100 well-wishers crammed into the church to pay their respects, with many only able to stand by the doors of the North Chapel.

Her sister attended the service with her teenage children, Leah and Michael, her brother-in-law, Matthew, and her 78-year-old mother, Elena Draganescu.

The service was conducted by four Romanian priests, led by Father Silviu Petre Pufulete, of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Fleet Street a great honour, said one of the guests, Raduta Matache, minister counsellor at the Romanian Embassy in Kensington. "It's very rare to have four Romanian priests at a funeral," she said. "It is a real honour."

The people of Romania were aware of Michelle's tragedy, she added, and were shocked by the bombings.

Father Pufulete paid tribute to Michelle in Romanian for the benefit of her mother. Dane Cohen, the husband of one of Michelle's cousins, whom she stayed with in Los Angeles for some time, told the crowd they were together to rejoice in her life'.

He described Michelle as bright, lively, with a never-ending humour and an impressive vocabulary'. He went on to joke that she had introduced him to several swear words in Romanian.

Michelle revisited LA in 2002, where she stayed for two years while studying to be a dental technician. "She became like the fifth member of this family," he said. "I want to thank her for the wonderful memories she left behind."

Michelle's niece, Leah, fought back the tears as she said she wanted to remember and celebrate' her aunt's life. She described her as quiet and gentle' but someone who could be opinionated'.

She warmed to her cynical sense of humour and extremely generous nature'.

In June this year, Michelle and her sister spent a week on holiday in Venice. Dania said that they had planned to grow old together.