CAZENOVIA - Residents of this picturesque farming community filled a school gym Wednesday to mourn an educator they said taught them a final lesson in his last moments - that heroes exist among us, not just in comic books and Hollywood movies.

An estimated 1,200 people paid final respects to John Klang, the principal who gave his life Friday to keep an armed student from venturing farther into Weston High School.

Klang, 49, was shot three times with a handgun as he wrestled and successfully disarmed a student in a front hallway. Klang died later that day from wounds to the back of the head, abdomen and leg.

"We never knew a real-life hero until now," said Weston School Board President Dave Wermund, who eulogized Klang.

Freshman Eric Hainstock, 15, has been charged with first- degree intentional homicide. He is being held on $750,000 cash bail at the Sauk County Jail.

Hainstock told police he was picked on by classmates and that staff members didn't intervene. District employees have rebutted the boy's assertions, and some students have said that while the boy was teased a lot, he also was a bully who brought on much of the verbal abuse.

Klang was principal for all of the district's 373 students in grades pre-kindergarten through high school. The students all attend classes at the same site.

When the students return to classes today for the first time since the shooting, staff members will hand out T-shirts reading "John Klang's my Superhero," said the acting principal, Melissa Nigh.

The theme of the district's homecoming, originally set for last Friday but now delayed until Oct. 14, was "Superheroes."

Junior Tess McLaughlin, 16, was among dozens of students of all ages at Wednesday's funeral.

"I wanted to show respect for what he did for me and for my classmates," she said. "He sacrificed his life so we wouldn't be shot."

Gov. Jim Doyle, first lady Jessica Doyle, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D.-Wis., state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, R- Richland Center, and state schools Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster also attended.

Klang, an outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish, was buried in a casket with a camouflage pattern on it. During the traditional Catholic funeral Mass, the closed casket rested in front of a makeshift altar, surrounded by 32 floral bouquets, many from other school districts.

The principal's widow, Sue Klang, wore a school sweater with a small "Weston" embroidered on it - a testament to the couple's love for the district, friends said.

About 70 family members, including the couple's three children, were seated together. Staff members were sprinkled throughout the gym, identifiable by ribbons in the school's colors.

In his homily, the Rev. Lorin Bowens likened Klang to the good shepherd who lays down his life for his flock. The Rev. Andre Panek said it was "a day when even heaven is sad."

Wermund, the School Board president, said Klang was an easy guy to love - quick to ask about other people's families, selfless in helping students, a leader who listened.

"We love you, John," Wermund said as he choked up. "We hope to see you in the big staff meeting in the sky some day."

Wermund ended on a light note: "By the way, are we allowed to eat and drink in the library in heaven?"

Following the funeral, members of Klang's parish, St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Germantown, helped set out tables of food cooked by community members - 750 sandwiches, tubs of au gratin potatoes, bowls of three-bean salad, plates of brownies.

Talk turned to favorite memories of Klang. His secretary, Jayne Huth, recalled how Klang made sure children in need of clothes had new tennis shoes, even though the students themselves didn't realize they were receiving charity. Klang would tell the child that he'd purchased the shoes for himself but that they pinched his feet and were of no use to him.

"He'd never even tell us the truth behind it, but we all knew," Huth said.

Terry Milfred, the district's part-time superintendent, said he was told that Hainstock was among students Klang offered new tennis shoes.

When students return today, they will be greeted by volunteers - including elected officials such as Doyle and Schultz - to make them feel safer and to let them know the community is behind them, Milfred said. A sheriff's deputy will man the entrance.

In the days ahead, all classrooms will have phones (a few lack them now), all staff members will wear ID badges and blinds will be installed in the library in case another lockdown is necessary.

Milfred said he's been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support. When he half- jokingly mentioned to a television reporter a couple of days ago that all volunteers would be put to work, even if that meant mowing the grass, a Madison man did just that - he came and mowed the school's yard.