Tributes, gifts and flowers left for Gloria Leonidas (Image: CHS)

The woman killed on First Hill last week in a murderous spree that left six dead including killer Ian Stawicki is being remembered by her family, friends, coworkers and the community where she died. For the next two weeks, a light will shine from Town Hall on the spot in a First Hill parking lot where her life was taken. Later this month, the Hall will host a community conversation on violence and public safety.

---

Gloria Leonidas will be remembered Thursday in services at Montlake’s St. Demetrios Orthodox Church before she is laid to rest in her home city of Bellevue. She would have turned 53 next week. She leaves behind her husband, Tom, and two daughters who are students at Capitol Hill’s Seattle Academy.

This obituary documents her life as a wife and mother — and as an expert in lighting design:

Leonidas is remembered by friends as a gourmet cook (Image: Leonidas family)

She worked as an electrician and then went on to work in commercial lighting sales. Her favorite phrase reflecting on her electrician days was “if nothing else works out I can always go back to Texas and pull wire!”

While working in New York City, Leonidas worked on a project relighting the Statue of Liberty.

A fund has been set up for her children and for some of the community groups and organizations Leonidas dedicated her life to:

The Gloria Leonidas Children’s Fund

Contributions to this fund will go directly to provide assistance for the education of Gloria’s daughters as well as to provide for medical expenses for one of her daughters that are not covered by health insurance. Contributions should be made payable to:

Gloria Leonidas Children’s Fund

c/o George Treperinas

Karr Tuttle Campbell

1201 Third Avenue, Suite 2900

Seattle, WA 98101

Click Here to: Donate Online to Gloria Children’s Fund

Evergreen Health Foundation

Gloria was an active foundation board member of Evergreen Health. During her tenure on the Foundation board, Gloria touched many lives and her crowning legacy will be remembered by many as Evergreen Health’s annual Gala, which is responsible for raising over $7.5 million to support the care of the Eastside community. Contributions toward this fund will continue her love and passion to provide and improve healthcare for the Eastside Community. Contributions should be made payable to:

Evergreen Health Foundation

12040 NE 128th Street MS#5

Kirkland, WA 98034

Please note on payment: In memory of Gloria Leonidas

Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club Foundation

Gloria and her husband support The Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Foundation which provides charitable support funding projects both locally and nationally. Some of the projects that have been undertaken by the BBRC Foundation include Bicycles for Orphans, Crossroads Spray Play Park, Operation Warm, Success Program and many more that can be found at www.bbrc.net. Contributions should be made payable to:

BBRC Foundation

PO Box 3003

Bellevue, WA 98009-3003

Please note on payment: In memory of Gloria Leonidas

The International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)

IOCC, in the spirit of Christ’s love, offers emergency relief and development programs to those in need worldwide, without discrimination, and strengthens the capacity of the Orthodox Church to so respond. Contributions can be made online at www.iocc.org or by check to the following:

IOCC

110 West Road, Suite 360

Baltimore, MD 21204

Please note on payment: In memory of Gloria Leonidas

The Only Light memorial will remain illuminated through June 18th (Image: Town Hall Seattle)

Leonidas was shot and killed last Wednesday near 8th and Seneca during Stawicki’s rampage from the University District to First Hill to West Seattle where he reportedly purchased a blueberry bush for a teacher from his youth before turning his gun on himself as police closed in on him on a neighborhood street. Police continue to investigate Stawicki’s path that day, including how he ended up on First Hill and what lead him to choose Leonidas as his victim as he stole her SUV and fled after shooting her in the head after a struggle in the parking lot.

Today, remembrances, flowers and notes left for Leonidas mark the spot. At night, Town Hall is illuminating the site of her death. The Only Light memorial is intended as a tribute to commemorate Leonidas’s life. “A light directed outward from our building also symbolizes our gaze, and our witness last Wednesday,” director Wier Harman said in a statement from the Hall on the tribute. The light will remain illuminated until a community forum planned for Town Hall on June 18th:

Public Safety: A Community Conversation

Monday, June 18, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm

Great Hall, enter on 8th Avenue. Free with reservation.

Town Hall Seattle staff, members, and board are deeply shaken and disturbed by the events that took place so close to our offices on May 30th. The other shooting the same day, previous incidents in May, and earlier in the year have caused us great concern. Like all of Seattle, we are trying to process the situation and wonder what we as a community can do to address it. As an institution whose purpose is to create a safe place for the expression of ideas, and which has hosted community conversations on topics including education, Occupy Seattle, artist space, the environment, and more, we can think of no more appropriate response than to gather as a community for a constructive conversation about these events which affect us all. A group of city leaders and citizens–including Mayor Mike McGinn, Councilmember Bruce Harrell and others–will discuss issues of public safety, gun control, mental illness, gangs, and how a community not only stays safe, but heals itself after such tragedies. Presented by Town Hall Seattle.