Parade victims known for their faith, family
CHICAGO — Mourners on Friday remembered a woman who worked tirelessly at her synagogue and a gentle man who loved art in the first formal services to be held for the seven people killed by the gunman who opened fire on a July Fourth parade.
Synagogue members at North Shore Congregation Israel near the Chicago suburb of Highland Park described 63year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim as a dedicated member of their community who coordinated events and and taught preschool classes, smiling all along and constantly checking on other staff members.
Her daughter, Leah, had another request: to use the pain, fear and rage caused by her mother’s death to make the world better, in small thoughts and actions.
“I want you to laugh,” she said, holding back tears. “I want you to each and every day put a little more joy and kindness into this world.”
Mourners also filled the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston to support the family of 88-year-old Stephen Straus, who was eulogized as a funny father and grandfather who loved reading and art and still rode the train five days a week to the downtown Chicago office where he worked as a financial adviser.
Jonathan Straus said learning of his father’s death from a doctor at a hospital “was the worst moment of my life.”
“Thinking about what a good, giving, loving person he was, it makes the cruelty and the horror of his death that much harder to take,” he said.
Neighboring Highwood is home to a large Hispanic population, and Mexican authorities have said two men killed at the parade were natives of the country.
One them was 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza of Waukegan, where family and friends gathered Friday for services.
During a private family viewing, a granddaughter left the church in tears. Family members encircled Yesenia Hernandez, trying to comfort her as she sobbed.
Services for 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo are scheduled for Saturday.
Police have repeatedly said that victims were shot randomly and that the assailant had no racial or religious motivation.
Funeral details for the remaining victims have not been made public. Authorities have identified them as 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and 37-yearold Kevin McCarthy, who were attending the parade with their 2-year-old son, and 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, a mother of two.
The accused gunman, Robert E. Crimo III, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors expect to bring more charges representing the more than 30 people were wounded in the assault.