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Rebecca Meyer was a 3-year-old pre-schooler when she wore a table centerpiece as a hat during a pre-school Passover celebration at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in April 2012.

(Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer)

BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- While hundreds mourned at a funeral service at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple here Thursday, social media campaigns across the Internet worked to "paint the web purple" in memory of a little girl whose battle with brain cancer reached far beyond her community.

Rebecca Alison Meyer died on her sixth birthday last Saturday, surrounded by family and friends at home in Cleveland Heights.

"So many nevers," her father, Eric Meyer, wrote on the blog where he and his wife, Kat, chronicled the illness. "I feel the weight of all the years she will never have, and they may yet crush me."

Meyer's prominence as a web designer and author brought the blog a wide following. It led to the viral campaign, launched by friends, that turned Internet text, avatars and backgrounds purple and had the hashtag #663399Becca trending on Twitter.

In the language of web design, #663399 means purple, Rebecca's favorite color.

"Let us celebrate Rebecca by calling the Internet's attention to her," wrote a designer who spread the effort that aimed also to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation and pediatric cancer research.

To raise awareness and research money last April, Rabbi Joshua Caruso of Fairmount Temple joined "Rabbis Shave for the Brave," shaving his head bald in solidarity with Rebecca and other young cancer patients.

"It was like I was carrying everybody's prayers, feelings and emotions with me," Caruso said. "'Shave for the Brave was no sacrifice -- I feel very privileged I could do this."

Her older sister, Carolyn, also shaved her head in solidarity and support. The fund-raising effort in Rebecca's name almost tripled its goal of $5,000.

Rebecca loved sweets, gymnastics and playing a princess.

"She was a real pistol," Caruso said, noting that her family agreed it was "perfect" that a water main break closed Cedar Point amusement park, Rebecca's favorite destination, last Saturday -- because "if she couldn't go, well, nobody could go!"

Surviving her, in addition to her parents and sister, are her younger brother, Joshua, and grandparents.

Symbolizing a memory alive and growing, after a ritual period of mourning, Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple will host children and parents at a ritual tree-planting at 4 p.m. Thursday.