LES MECHINS, Que. — For three years, villagers missed the welcoming smile and constant chuckles from the young woman who worked the cash at their corner store.

In 2006, Trooper Karine Blais left the tiny seaside town of Les Mechins, Que., to join the army. On Friday, she came home, where the people who watched her grow up said goodbye one last time.

Family, former neighbours and army colleagues filled the St-Edouard Church to pay tribute to the 21-year-old soldier who died last week in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan.

"Karine, you passed through our lives like a breeze," Cpl. Eric Simard, a fellow member of Blais's 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada, told more than 600 mourners.

"Bon voyage little angel."

Blais was killed and four Canadian soldiers were injured April 13 when the explosion struck their armoured vehicle north of Kandahar city, in the Shah Wali Kot district.

Although a member of the 12e Regiment Blinde du Canada, Blais was serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal 22e Regiment -- also known as the Van Doos.

Blais, the second Canadian female soldier to die in combat, was only two weeks into her first tour of duty in Afghanistan.

She received an honorary, posthumous promotion to the rank of corporal.

Mourners dabbed their eyes as Simard; Blais's boyfriend, Hugo Girard-Blanchette; her escort officer, Cpl. Kevin Cote-Martel; and her uncle and godfather, Mario Blais, all bid her farewell.

Mario Blais said after his niece's death it was time for Ottawa to pull Canadian soldiers out of Afghanistan and that he feared she had died in vain.

He said in his eulogy he hopes war will soon be a thing of the past.

"Never forget that we are all very proud of you," he told the service.

"I love you."

Cote-Martel, who accompanied Blais's casket on the journey from Kandahar, pledged to fight for her when he returns to Afghanistan.

"It's never easy to say goodbye to a friend and this is harder than ever," said Cote-Martel.

The packed Roman Catholic church was silent as the men spoke. Another 100 residents who couldn't fit inside the building waited quietly outside.

The farewells overwhelmed one young woman who collapsed inside the church and had to be carried out by soldiers and a journalist.

Girard-Blanchette and seven soldiers carried her casket, which was draped in the Canadian Forces Ensign flag, from the church after the ceremony.

Blais's mother, Josee Simard, kissed her daughter's beret after receiving it from the commanding officer.

Many in Les Mechins, a town of 1,200 on Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula, remember Blais as the friendly girl who worked behind the counter at Depanneur Central -- the local convenience store.

Town councillor Clement Marceau said he will never forget her smile, which he saw every time he walked through the doors.

"She was a real nice little girl, a beautiful little girl, and it was her destiny to go to the army and help people," Marceau said.

Blais, who joined the military in 2006, is also survived by her father, Gino Blais, and by her little brother, Billy Blais.

A childhood friend, who last saw Blais in March, said she spoke at that time about starting a family.

Karine Fortin described Blais as a sociable woman who knew just about everybody in town.

"She was a nice, frank, sincere person who laughed a lot and was always happy," said Fortin, who grew up on the same street.

The funeral was held a day after Maj. Michelle Mendes, was found dead in her sleeping quarters at Kandahar Airfield.

Mendes, 30, is the third female soldier to die during the Afghan mission.

On May 17, 2006, Capt. Nichola Goddard of the 1st Regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was killed in a grenade attack west of Kandahar city.

A total of 118 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002.