They came in celebration of life, clapping hands and singing aloud.

More than 150 people gathered Wednesday to pay tribute to CeeCee Lyles, a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, killing all aboard.

The ceremony, on what would have been Lyles’ 36th birthday, culminated in the unveiling of her statue in the city’s Liberty Garden, a special memorial for the heroes and dead of Sept. 11.

Her husband, Lorne Lyles, and four sons slipped a golden cloth off the life-sized statue. The crowd burst into applause.

In the bright sunlight, CeeCee’s smiling face looked out over the rippling water of the Indian River. Her flight uniform is copied, right down to her airline’s flight-wings pin.

“I have to say that it has brought tears to my eyes,” Lorne Lyles told sculptor Chris Riccardo, 35, of Jupiter.

Lyles, 33, said this was the first time that he had seen the finished art work. Riccardo donated his time and expertise to create the resin-and-Fiberglass sculpture.

CeeCee’s mother, Carrie Ross, 64, said the statue and ceremony were appropriate ways to honor her daughter.

“It helps us to let her go and celebrate her life,” Ross said.

Lyles said there could be no other place but Fort Pierce for the statue. “This is home,” he said.

CeeCee grew up in Fort Pierce and graduated from Fort Pierce Westwood High School.

Before fulfilling her dream of becoming a flight attendant in 2000, CeeCee was an officer with the Fort Pierce Police Department for six years.

Her husband was an officer for four years before joining the Fort Myers Police Department.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, described CeeCee as a “hometown hero” and an “inspiration” because she was an average person who possessed courage, character and generosity.

“She was a wife, mother, daughter, woman of faith and a working woman … We can all relate to some aspect of the life of CeeCee Ross Lyles,” he said.

CeeCee also was a leader whose police training served her well on Sept. 11, Pruitt said.

“No telling how many people CeeCee rallied to action that day,” he said.

CeeCee and others aboard Flight 93 have been credited with preventing their plane’s hijackers from reaching an intended target, perhaps the Capitol or the White House. The plane crashed in a rural field outside Shanksville, Pa.

Jason Geary can be reached at .