by Abby Kierst

St. Peter’s Catholic Church parishioner and STA alumna Terri LaManno was killed in a shooting at the Village Shalom assisted living center April 13. Around 1 p.m. Frazier Glenn Miller allegedly opened fire and shot three people including LaManno.

LaManno, 53, graduated from STA in 1979. She had been married to Jim LaManno for nearly 25 years. LaManno and her husband were active members of the St. Peter’s Parish and had three children. Two of their children, Alissa and Gian, attended St. Peter’s school.

LaManno’s funeral was held April 17 at St. Peter’s church. Her brother, Dr. Tom Hastings, gave the eulogy at her funeral. He believes that had his sister survived, she would have forgiven Miller.

“Terri LaManno was the most gentle, calm, non-judgemental person I’ve ever known and I would say she lived out her christian faith,” ;ong time friend of LaManno, Kate Mcdonald said.

Current STA president Nan Bone was principal at St. Peter’s for three years while LaManno’s children were attending St. Peter’s. Bone describes LaManno as a vibrant member of the community and a “typical” St. Peter’s mom.

“She would stop in the office and volunteer for different things you know when we would call for volunteers she would volunteer, really involved in the school and her kid’s education,” Bone said.

Fellow STA alumna Hanna Katz had LaManno as a volleyball coach in the eighth grade. Katz went to St. Peter’s with LaManno’s son Gian and went to St. Teresa’s with her daughter Alissa. Katz remembers LaManno as kind and dedicated to the team.

Bone agreed, saying, “I certainly saw her as a mother that wanted to make sure her kids had good morals, a Christian background and understood really that our purpose is to give back.”

According to Mcdonald, LaManno’s faith was very important to her. She and her family could always be found at the 11 a.m. mass.

“We didn’t know them well, but for somebody who saw them once a week at church so not too frequently, she was really really kind and gentle,” St. Peter’s parishioner Jim Caccamo said.

According to Caccamo, the LaMannos were very involved in the community and many people have reached out to help the family.

“The amount of people whose names I don’t even know that are trying to get on the list to go help the family is astounding,” Mcdonald said.

Mcdonald is in charge of finding out what the family’s needs are. According to Mcdonald, there were 65 volunteer spots to fill at the funeral reception and all spots were gone in a matter of hours. Many were upset there were no more spots available to help.

“It’s just been an overwhelming response to help this great family,” Mcdonald said. “It brought St. Peter’s together. People who have gone to the parish for a long time and never known each other are meeting.”