CHICAGO aEUR "Mourners remembered Friday a woman who worked tirelessly in her synagogue, and a gentleman who loved art at the first formal service to be held for seven people who were killed by the gunman during a July Fourth parade.
North Shore Congregation Israel Synagogue near Highland Park, Illinois, described Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63 years old as a dedicated member to their community. She coordinated events and taught preschool classes. Jacquelyn smiled all the while and was always checking up on other staff.
Rabbi Wendi Geffen stated, "We are horrified." "We are angry, sickened and aggrieved by the terror that has befallen our family and taken Jacki's place," Rabbi Wendi Geffen said.
Geffen and others encouraged the crowd to concentrate on Sundheim's personal life, aEUR" her commitments to Bruce and Leah, her love for knitting, and her meticulousness when planning weddings and funerals.
Her daughter also requested that her mother's pain, fear, and rage be used to make the world better in small acts and thoughts.
She cried, but said, "I want to make you laugh." I want you to bring joy and kindness into the world every day. Don't let sadness, fear, or rage make you bitter about the world. Without my mom, the world is much darker. It's up to us to bring some laughter to it.
To support Stephen Straus' family, Evanston's Jewish Reconstructionist Church was also full of mourners. They were there to pay respects to their father and grandfather, Stephen Straus (88), who was described as a humorous father and grandfather. He loved reading and art, and rode the train five times a week to his downtown Chicago office as a financial advisor.
Jonathan, his son, described Straus as "truly and truly to his core", a sweet, generous individual. Peter, his other son, thanked his father for instilling a love for the "zany," including Mel Brooks.
Jonathan Straus stated that hearing the news of his father's passing from a hospital doctor was "the worst moment in my life."
He said, "Thinking about how a good, giving and loving person he was makes the cruelty of his death that much more difficult to accept." "When I look at photos of him, it just sweeps me away, what we've lost and who I lost, my greatest friend ever."
Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza's family and friends will remember him Friday afternoon. Funeral services for Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, are planned for Saturday.
The funeral details of the victims remaining have not been released. They were identified as Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin McCarthy, 37, respectively. They were there with their 2-year old son and Katherine Goldstein (64), a mother of two.
Robert E. Crimo III has been accused of seven counts first-degree murder. Prosecutors anticipate that they will bring additional charges to cover the fact that more than 30 people were injured in the attack.
Investigators believe the suspect, who was a resident of Highwood, had legally purchased five weapons and planned to carry out the attack for weeks. He then climbed up onto the roof of a building along the parade route, where he opened fire using a semi-automatic gun.
Crimo was reported to have fled the parade, blending into the crowd and driving to Madison, Wisconsin where he thought about a second attack. Police spotted his car in the Highland Park area.
There are still questions about whether Crimo should be allowed to legally buy firearms in Illinois. After receiving reports of Crimo making violent and suicidal threats, the Illinois State Police approved his gun license in December 2019.
