Omaha Unites In Grief

(AP) — A second day of funerals for those killed by a gunman in a crowded shopping mall brought reflection Tuesday that grief haunts not just the victims’ relatives, but also the entire community.

Services were held for two more victims of last week’s shootings at the hands of a suicidal teenager, while a service for a third victim was delayed because of snow.

“Our community is deeply wounded and hurting because of what happened last Wednesday,” said the Rev. Donald Shane at the service for Angie Schuster.

The only way to heal those wounds is through forgiveness and love, Shane said at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, noting that he had attended school with one of the victims. He also referred to the gunman, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins.

“There were nine worlds shattered,” Shane said at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church. “The worlds of Beverly Flynn. And Janet Jorgensen. And Gary Joy. And John McDonald, my classmate. And Gary Scharf. And Dianne Clavin Trent. And Maggie Webb. And our Angie.

“And a tragic, tragic end to the life of Robert Hawkins.”

A funeral for Webb was held in Moline, Ill., her hometown.

The funeral for the 47-year-old Flynn was rescheduled for Wednesday morning because of weather, according to a recorded message at Glad Tidings Church in Omaha. Flynn was a real estate agent who wrapped gifts in the Von Maur department store during Christmas because she loved the holiday season.

Hawkins opened fire with an AK-47 in the Von Maur store, fatally wounding eight people before taking his own life.

Schuster, 36, of Omaha, was a manager in the girls’ department at Von Maur, where she had worked for nearly 10 years.

Schuster met her fiance, Greg O’Neil, at Von Maur when he worked there as a security guard. Schuster was thrilled when O’Neil got a job elsewhere so they could start dating, Shane said.

Webb, who was about two weeks shy of her 25th birthday, was the youngest victim of the shooting rampage. She transferred to the Omaha Von Maur store from a Chicago location this year.

Alexis Roberts, 15, told The Dispatch of Moline that she remembers Webb fondly.

“She was the best baby sitter I ever had,” said Roberts, of Moline. “I’ll remember how charismatic and funny and smart she was.”

Funerals for Jorgensen, Trent and Joy, all Von Maur employees, and for shoppers McDonald and Scharf took place in Omaha and elsewhere Monday.

The Rev. Harry Buse presided over a Mass for Trent, 53.

“To be part of the sorrow of eight families grieving together is all the more overwhelming,” said Buse at St. Leo Catholic Church.

“It is like a whole city engaged in a huge group hug, embraced you and all grieving families into one common heartbeat of love and support,” he said. “It has been as if millions of hearts beat as one, sharing a sense of loss.”