Gunman leaves wake of grief for 6 families
Jan-10-2011

Christina Green was on the student council of her elementary school, so on Saturday her mother's friend thought she might enjoy seeing government in action: the local congresswoman meeting with constituents outside a supermarket near Christina's home.

``I allowed her to go, thinking it would be an innocent thing,'' said the girl's mother, Roxanna Green, 45.

A gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, leaving her in critical condition, and his fusillade killed six people, including Christina, a 9-year-old who loved animals and volunteered at a children's charity.

She was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and she was proud of it, her mother said, because it lent a grace note of hope to that terrible day.

Christina, who was born when the family was living in West Grove, Pa., was one of the 50 ``Faces of Hope'' representing children from 50 states who were born on Sept. 11. Their images were printed in a book, with some of the proceeds going to a Sept. 11 charity.

``From the very beginning, she was an amazing child,'' her mother said. ``She was very bright, very mature, off the charts. She was the brightest thing that happened that day.''

Her mother, who grew up as Roxanna Segalini in the Bronx and Scarsdale, N.Y., is a registered nurse and has been a stay-at-home mother to Christina and her 11-year-old brother, Dallas.

Christina's father, John Green, is a supervising scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Her grandfather, Dallas Green, managed the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1980 World Series championship and also managed the Yankees and the Mets.

Christina, an A student, was interested in politics, so her mother accepted the offer by her friend Susan Hileman to take Christina to the congresswoman's constituent meeting. John Green told The Arizona Star that Christina was such a good speaker that he ``could have easily seen her as a politician.''

But Christina also seems to have inherited her family's baseball genes. She was on a Little League baseball team, its only girl, her mother said.

Christina, a slender girl with brownish-blond hair, brown eyes and a gentle smile, also sang in the choir at St. Odilia Roman Catholic Church.

Others who died in the shooting:

� John Roll, 63: Named Arizona's chief federal judge in 2006, the U.S. District judge won acclaim for a career as a respected jurist and leader who had pushed to beef up the court's strained bench to handle a growing number of border crime-related cases. Roll was a Pennsylvania native who got his law degree from the University of Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, three sons and five grandchildren.

� Gabe Zimmerman, 30: Zimmerman, the director of community outreach for Giffords, handled thousands of issues raised by constituents out of the congresswoman's offices in Tucson and Sierra Vista. Co-workers say Zimmerman, who had a master's degree in social work, cared passionately about helping people. Zimmerman, who is survived by a brother, was engaged to be married.

� Phyllis Schneck, 79: For the past decade, Schneck has spent her winters in sunny Tucson, away from her home state of New Jersey. Eventually she became an Arizona resident, taking up with the town's robust community of retirees. A widow who had been married to Edward Schneck for 56 years until his death, Schneck had been a homemaker, loved making crafts and remained devoted to her family.

� Dorwin Stoddard, 76: Stoddard died shielding his wife Mavanell ``Mavy'' Stoddard, 75, from the barrage of bullets. Mavy, who was shot in the leg several times, is expected to recover, friends and neighbors said. ``He was a hero,'' said Marge Osterman, a neighbor and friend. Friends and church members knew well the Stoddards' love story: They were high school classmates in Tucson who moved away, married other people and made a life. When their spouses died, they moved back and reconnected. Both were leaders in their church benevolence ministry. ``They normally go out to breakfast every Saturday,'' said their pastor, the Rev. Mike Nowak. On this Saturday, Mavy wanted tell their congresswoman that she was doing a good job, she told him.

� Dorothy Morris, 76: Neighbors said that Morris moved to Tucson more than a decade ago from Nevada and was a secretary and homemaker; her husband George, who was shot in the shoulder Saturday but survived, was a former pilot for United Airlines and the Marine Corps. The corps flag and a U.S. flag flew daily outside their home, neighbors said. They were often seen walking around their retirement community, called Sun City Vistoso; Dorothy went to a Bible study class. ``Nice people, not a bad word to say about them,'' said Marie Bender, a neighbor.

Posted by Clay Kohut at 1:43 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print