St. John's Prep Students Line Streets, Hold Hands For Pete Frates' Funeral Procession

DANVERS (CBS) – A long line of St. John's Prep students held hands and lined the streets of their Danvers campus in a show of respect for Pete Frates as his funeral procession passed by Friday morning. The former student of the school for boys, who went on to become a renowned advocate for ALS research, died Monday at age 34.

Bells rang as the procession made its way through the campus. All 1,700 students and faculty wore a No. 3 pin to honor Frates. He wore that number when he played baseball, hockey and football at the school.

The school retired Frates' number in 2017 and renamed the varsity baseball field after him.

On Thursday the baseball team participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge, which Frates helped turn into a worldwide phenomenon to raise awareness about ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. The challenge raised more than $200 million for ALS research.

More than 1,000 said goodbye to Frates at a funeral mass at St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish next to Boston College. A group of faculty, coaches, and administrators formally represented St. John's Prep at the funeral.