DENVER -- A Colorado father killed in last week's theater shootings is the first to be laid to rest.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and the mayor of Aurora are among the mourners at a funeral service for the man who took his two teenage children to the new Batman movie's midnight showing.

Fifty-one-year-old Gordon Cowden was the oldest of the 12 people killed in the massacre at the "Dark Knight Rises." The businessman's children escaped unharmed.

About 150 mourners attended Cowden's funeral, many carrying flowers. They walked by a large portrait of Cowden at the church entrance.

Families of other victims plan to say their final goodbyes later this week.