I resent when media make a celebrity of a killer. I will not reprint his name here, but will reprint the names of the people who died in the shooting in the mall in Omaha. We should remember that they were mothers, fathers, children, parents, siblings, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
According to the Associated Press, the names of those who’s lives were taken from them are:
Gary Scharf, 48, of Lincoln; “I called him my Dudley Do-right,” Kim Scharf told AP. “I’m not kidding. You’d never meet a more honorable and loyal man.”
John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; “He was one of the greatest people anyone could hope to meet,” Kathy McDonald told AP. “He had a fantastic sense of humor. He was so accepting of people.”
The six employees of the store, all from Omaha
Angie Schuster, 36; “Intelligent, hard working student, just one of those all around really nice people who contributed to school and the world in general. Really a fine young woman”
Maggie Webb, 24; “‘She was one of the good ones.’ They paused, and said, ‘No, one of the great ones,”
Janet Jorgensen, 67; “She was married for 50 years and lived in the same Omaha neighborhood for 40, and organized an annual block party, Huntimer said. And she doted on her eight grandchildren.”
Dianne Trent, 53; “Dianne enjoyed vacationing with her family. She loved the Christmas season and shopping. She lovingly took in animals. Anyone who met her loved her.”
Gary Joy, 56; “loved to write stories and poetry and was pursuing a degree in literature at Bellevue University….She said her son’s decision to donate his organs was typical of the way he always helped others.”
Beverly Flynn, 47; “took time out from her real estate career to wrap gifts at Von Maur”
May their memories be for a blessing.
UPDATE: Most of the above quotes are from a CNN article. If anyone stops by who knew them and want to leave a comment, please do. You are also welcome to leave information on any memorial fund that might be set up and I’ll post that information in a new post.