Friday, February 15, 2008 8:45 PM CST
A look at those who died in shooting at Northern Illinois University
A look at those who died in the shooting at Northern Illinois University:
Daniel Parmenter
Parmenter, 20, of Westchester, was described as a ``gentle giant'' by an adviser at the NIU student newspaper. Parmenter was a sophomore studying finance and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity where ``Dan was always helping other people out, giving you a ride to class, helping with homework, doing community service,'' said Eta Nu Chapter President Jason Garcia. Known as Danny, he sold ads for the Northern Star campus paper. At York High School in Elmhurst, he played football as a defensive end.
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Catalina Garcia
Garcia, 20, of Cicero, was studying to become a teacher. She was the youngest of four siblings in a family from Guadalajara, Mexico, that had settled in suburban Cicero, west of Chicago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
``She was adored by our family because she wanted to become somebody in life — that's what she was going to school,'' her father, Jacinto Garcia, told Spanish-language radio station WOJO-FM, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
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Ryanne Mace
Mace, 19, of Carpentersville, was a sophomore studying psychology. She recently posted on her MySpace Web page: ``Happy Valentine's Day Everybody! ... Saying you love someone is not enough, it's how you treat them that shows your true feelings.'' She was a 2006 graduate of Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville and a recipient of a scholarship from the high school's French Club, according to The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald.
Her mother, Mary Kay Mace, told The Associated Press she and her husband named their only child Ryanne, and pronounced it like the boy's name Ryan, because ``we thought we were having a boy.''
``She was beautiful and brilliant and caring,'' Mace said of her daughter. ``She wanted to start a career helping people. She was in psychology to become a counselor. She was our only child, the light of our lives.''
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Julianna Gehant
Gehant, 32, of Meriden, spent a stint in the U.S. Army, where she taught construction, then enrolled at NIU with hopes of becoming an elementary school teacher. Known as Julie, she was a 1994 graduate of Mendota Township High School, where she was active in art and set design for the school plays.
Retired drama teacher Dave Schroeder remembered her an openhearted young woman with a keen sense of humor and warm laugh. In her 2007 Christmas card to him, she wrote, ``I have four more semesters until I'm qualified to teach second graders.''
``I told her I wanted to be one of the first ones to give her a recommendation'' for the job, he said. ``It's just a terrible loss,'' Schroeder said. ``For someone to do something like this, it's just stupid.''
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Gayle Dubowski
Dubowski, 20, of Carol Stream, was a sophomore at NIU. ``She was a good person with a big heart,'' said a friend, Kelly Cavanaugh, who met her at the DeKalb Church of Christ.
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Stephen Kazmierczak
Kazmierczak, 27, was the gunman. Officials said he was a ``stellar student'' when he attended NIU, winning at least two awards and serving as an officer in a student group dedicated to promoting ``understanding of all areas of the criminal justice system.'' Police said he recently ``become erratic'' after halting his medication. He concealed the shotgun used in the killings inside a guitar case.
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