Praised for her boundless energy, family and friends gathered in San Antonio to remember her. Jessica Ghawi, who narrowly escaped a shooting in Toronto earlier this year, has been laid to rest.
“If this coward could have done this with this much hate, imagine what we can do with this much love,” her brother, Jordan told those gathered inside the Community Bible Church in San Antonio.
But most of the service focused on the life and energy of the aspiring sports journalist.
“What we will not do today is focus on how she left us,” read Peter Burns, a friend from Colorado, holding a note from Ghawi’s mother, Sandy. “Jess was a force to be reckoned with. She was a jolt of lightning. A whirlwind. A Labrador puppy running clumsily with innocent joy.”
Burns talked of the funny way Ghawi sneezed, her near-addiction to Nutella chocolate, how she was sloppy and always lovable. Ghawi’s boyfriend, however Jay Meloff, noted that while others described her as a tough, redheaded spitfire, he saw her as a “beautiful, warm-hearted and passionate woman with a capacity for love…as mushy as they come.”
Ghawi was a 24-year-old pretty, blue-eyed redhead who moved to Colorado about a year ago. She had survived a June 2 shooting at a Toronto mall that left two dead and several wounded.
Her blog post last month reads: “I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath.”
She went by the name “Redfield,” a play on her red hair, because it was easy to say and remember, both professionally and on her social media accounts. She was a regular tweeter and her last post to the micro-blogging website stated in all capital letters, “movie doesn’t start for 20 minutes.”
Meanwhile, the body of a 26-year-old U.S. Navy veteran and Reno resident who also died in the shooting has been flown home for burial. Jonathan Blunk’s body arrived at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, with the Patriot Guard escorting him to the Mountain View Mortuary.
Blunk had high hopes for the future, with plans to re-enlist in the Navy and the goal of becoming a Navy SEAL, having served three tours in the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea between 2004 and 2009. Blunk was also a certified firefighter and emergency medical technician.
He died in the shooting after throwing himself in front of friend Jansen Young and saving her life. Young told NBC’s “Today” show, that Blunk told her to stay down.
A 2004 graduate of Hug High School, Blunk most recently lived in Aurora and worked for a small flooring company. His estranged wife, Chantel, lives with their 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son in Reno.
A memorial service, open to the public will take place August 2nd at the Mountain View Mortuary with a private service the following day.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
Leave a comment