Grieving Family Gives Thanks for Support : Appreciation: Services honor those who tried to help Kari LaBorde, who was burned to death two months ago.

ORANGE —  The cards of condolence, the soft words of support and the gifts of cash have all been pouring in to Kari LaBorde’s family for two months--ever since the 41-year-old bookkeeper and mother suffered fatal burns in a fire allegedly set by a disgruntled janitor.

On Sunday, family members said it was their turn to give something back.

With tears and song, more than 600 people at the Evangelical Free Church of Orange helped the LaBordes offer an official thank-you--to the bystanders whose efforts to save Kari LaBorde gave her a few extra hours to be with her family, the firefighters who fought the blaze, the doctors and nurses who treated her, the chaplain who ministered at her death bed and others.

“This was just an incredible way for me to express my gratitude,” the victim’s husband, Jerry LaBorde, said as he waited for the start of the morning’s second church service, each an appreciation to those who had helped LaBorde and her family.

LaBorde died at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Feb. 2, about nine hours after she was doused with gasoline and set ablaze. She suffered burns over 95% of her body.

Accused in the attack is Jonathan D. D’Arcy, 30, who police say was upset over the late payment of a $150 paycheck from Quintessence of Building Maintenance Co., which occasionally employed him as a janitor. He allegedly went to the firm’s Tustin office and demanded to see LaBorde, then threw a cup of gasoline on her head. He could face the death penalty if convicted of murder and torture.

Speakers at Sunday’s services stressed LaBorde’s incredible selflessness at the hospital during her dying hours, as the deeply religious woman voiced only forgiveness toward her assailant and appeared most concerned about her husband.

Hospital chaplain Jon Wetterholm told church members that LaBorde told him: “If this incident is what it would take to bring (her husband) to the Lord, it would be worth it all.” Since his wife’s death, Jerry LaBorde said, he has become an active member of the church.

Cindy Berwick, a nurse in the ICU burn unit who was among those honored Sunday, said she was deeply impressed by LaBorde in the few short hours that she knew her.

In an interview, Berwick told of tending to LaBorde that day at the hospital. “I was crying because it was so tragic. I couldn’t believe someone would do something like that. . . . But (LaBorde) just said, ‘Don’t cry. I’m not afraid to die.’ ”

Evangelical Free Church Pastor Rick Hann told congregants that emergency workers, medical staff and others whose job it is to help people are “unseen and far too often unrecognized” and that they deserve thanks, especially in the LaBorde case.

So, too, do the hundreds of people who have offered support for LaBorde’s two children, Chris, 17, and Renee, 16, and her husband since her death, church officials said.

Lorraine Hanson, church communications director, said people from around the country have donated $20,421 to a fund to provide college money for the LaBorde children and help the family meet its bills. A computer analyst, Jerry LaBorde is unemployed.

Moved by the LaBordes’ story, some children--including one who was only 5--pooled their change to contribute to the family fund, Hanson said. One child felt badly because he didn’t have any money to pitch in, she said, so he donated a Bo Jackson baseball card instead.