MSU & Lansing Community Honor Those Lost In Pittsburgh Shooting
Michigan shows their grief for the loss of life in Pittsburgh. Lansing and the Michigan State University community took a few moments to honor those who were lost over the weekend in the tragedy that happened at a Pittsburgh Synagogue.
I warn you, this story will make your heart ache and I am sure as time goes on we will come to understand more details of the shooting that day. I am just stunned at all the beautiful lives that have been snuffed out due to sheer evil.
Robert Bowers, 46, entered the Tree of Life synagogue with one rifle and three pistols. Law enforcement negotiated with Bowers while he was inside the synagogue, sources said, and during those negotiations, he talked about his hatred for Jewish people. Police surrounded the synagogue, and at some point, there was an exchange of gunfire with Bowers after SWAT team personnel entered the building. Bowers eventually surrendered.
It is at times like these that I never know how to express my grief or angry...there are no words for this great of loss, but Lansing Michigan and Michigan State University performed an incredible ceremony to honor those we have lost. According to Mlive...
Three days after a gunman took the lives of 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Michigan State University students and community members gathered for a candlelight vigil to honor those lost.
Mlive detailed the ceremony saying...
The vigil was held outside the Hillel Jewish Student Center, 360 Charles St., on Monday, Oct. 29, hosted several speakers and a moment of silence after the 11 names of the shooting victims were read aloud.
It doesn't matter is you like Spartans or the Wolverines, it is just amazing in a moment of ugliness, Michiganders showed love and loss for others. Once again, another reasons that I am so proud to be from Michigan.
The 11 Lives That Were Lost...
Irving Younger
Irving Younger of Mount Washington greeted Tree of Life members and visitors with a big smile and a handshake, a friend said. "He was a guy that, when you walked in, he was the first person that would meet you and help you find a seat," his pal and former Tree of Life president Barton Schachter told CNN.
Melvin Wax
Melvin Wax's greatest passions were his grandson, his religion and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was "always in a good mood, always full of jokes," his sister told CNN
Rose Mallinger
Friends and relatives say the 97-year-old Squirrel Hill woman lived for her family. She regularly attended Tree of Life with her daughter, Andrea, who was injured in the shooting. And despite her age, Mallinger was spry, vibrant and full of life.
Bernice and Sylvan Simon
The Simons died together in the same synagogue where they wed more than 60 years ago. According to their 1956 wedding announcement in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the couple married at Tree of Life synagogue.
Jerry Rabinowitz
Jerry Rabinowitz touched the lives of many, both as a primary care physician in Edgewood Borough and a member of Dor Hadash. In the early days of HIV treatment, when stigma around the disease was high, Rabinowitz was known to hold patients' hands without gloves and embrace them whenever they left the office, one patient recalled.
Joyce Fienberg
Joyce Fienberg, 75, had a long career at the University of Pittsburgh as a research specialist from 1983 until her retirement in 2008. Her employers at the Learning Research and Development Center called her a "cherished friend" and "an engaging, elegant, and warm person."
Richard Gottfried
Richard Gottfried was Jewish, and his wife, Peg Durachko, was Catholic. Together, they opened a dental practice in 1984 and helped prepare other interfaith couples for marriage through the St. Athanasius church.
Daniel Stein
Joe Stein said his father Daniel was a "simple man" who "did not require much." The news of his death left their family devastated. "Our lives now are going to have to take a different path, one that we thought would not happen for a long time."
Brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal
The brothers were inseparable, said Chris Schopf of ACHIEVA, a Pittsburgh nonprofit that provides support for people with disabilities. The organization worked with the brothers. In a statement, they described them as extraordinary men who were respected members of ACHIEVA's community.
They are gone but will not be forgotten. As time goes by, family and friends will be able to smile and think of those they loved without tears. I pray for the families, and wish that another horrific crime against man never happens again.