ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WUSA9) — She was a mother, friend, and respected journalist.
Wendi Winters was one of the five people killed when a man shot up the Capital Gazette newsroom on June 28th.
Loved ones remembered her life at a memorial service in Annapolis on Saturday.
“Everyone here has somehow had their lives touched by my mother,” Winters Geimer, Winters’ oldest daughter, said.
Winters was many things -- a reporter, red cross volunteer, and a youth church group leader.
“Most importantly to me, she was my mom,” Winters Geimer said.
Winters’ four children remembered her life.
“We had been given an enormous gift of her time and enthusiasm,” Phoenix Geimer explained.
“My mother was 65, but she would have never have admitted to that age,” Winters Geimer laughed.
Winters’ children also remembered when they heard about the shooting.
“When I received the news that there was a shooting at the Capital, I think I felt the world stop,” Summerleigh Winters-Geimer said. “I think that losing someone you love makes you feel dizzy because even though your world has stopped, you have to watch everyone else’s world continue to spin around you.”
“When danger arrived, she did not flinch. She did not hesitate,” one speaker said at the funeral service.
Staff at the Capital Gazette said the 65-year-old charged toward the shooter to keep others from dying.
“She responded as we all hoped we might respond in the midst of terror — with courage, with love — giving her life for which she cared for,” the speaker explained.
Winters loved the arts, and her memorial service reflected it.
One of her daughters said Winters taught her to express her feelings through singing.
Montana Geimer said, “Even though I’m sad and confused and angry and devastated, how can I keep from singing?”
For many in Annapolis, Winters was like a flame that shined a light on important issues, the importance of family, and her community.
Her children now hope to carry that light through their lives.
“Live like Wendy would. I love you, mom. We all love you,” Summer Lee Winters-Geimer concluded.
