Community To Celebrate Yountville Victims Lives
YOUNTVILLE (CBS SF) -- Hundreds of mourners were expected to attend a Monday memorial service for three employees of The Pathway Home veterans' treatment center who dedicated their lives to helping veterans suffering from PTSD adjust to normal life.
Executive director Christine Loeber, 48, and staff psychologists Dr. Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a clinical psychologist, and Dr. Jennifer Gray Golick, 42, a clinical director, were found dead after a standoff with an former patient in the program.
Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, fatally shot the women before taking his own life, according to the Napa County Sheriff's Office.
The Board of directors of The Pathway Home has announced it was suspending its operations at the veterans' home. Veterans in the program will be supported by mental health and other services in cooperation with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and local Napa County non-profit providers.
The Celebration of Life is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the Lincoln Theater in the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center on the Veterans Home campus in Yountville. The event is open to the public.
Meanwhile, there has a growing memorial at the Pathway Home since the hours after the shooting, honoring the victims with a steady stream of mourners dropping off flowers and candles.
An intricate metal sculpture with three hearts, each heart representing one of the victims, is a part of the memorial. The middle heart represents Gonzalez who was 7 months pregnant. A smaller heart represents her unborn child.
Martin Epstein, a veteran who lives at Pathway, says he was deeply moved by the beautiful tribute.
"Someone put that together. It puts a tear in your eye. It's very sad," said Epstein.
Marc Golick, the husband of victim Jennifer Golick, remembered her as a loving mother, wife, sister, colleague and friend.
"It's with incredibly deep sadness that I mourn the loss of my wife Dr. Jennifer Golick," he said.
Her mother Loni Gray also spoke, saying the loss of her daughter has been unbearable.
"I feel sadness throughout my entire body. I woke up yesterday morning crying in my sleep," said Gray. "And when I woke up I was still crying. I'm still crying inside. And I will be forever."
