Sister to James Thomas III and Joshua Lucas
Half sister to Jenna Michele Allen
Jessica Corrine Ruehl: Peaceful park is living tribute to a slain child: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA) - April 21, 1994
Deceased Name: Jessica Corrine Ruehl: Peaceful park is living tribute to a slain child
Classmates of Jessica Corrine Ruehl, the 9-year-old caught in the madness of an angry, gunman last October, said a final goodbye to her yesterday.
"It gives closure to a nightmare," Naranca Elementary School Principal Linda Fisher said at a memorial service attended by about 70 people at the school.
"This is what we chose to do to honor Jessica," she said, as a small open park was dedicated to the fourth-grader.
There are only two trees in place now, but many more will come. A bench will be placed near a marble marker with Jessica's name engraved on it.
The park will be a place to celebrate Jessica's life.
Few have forgotten what happened last Oct. 30 to the El Cajon girl or to Virginia Catherine Eash, 46.
Terror enveloped a neighborhood that day, when Gordon Neumann -- a man often taunted by neighborhood children -- unleashed his rage on his neighbors at the Key Largo apartments.
Perched carefully in his upstairs apartment window, he took aim with a rifle and opened fire.
Jessica was mortally wounded, as was Eash. Five other passers-by were shot at random, four of them children who have since recovered. Neumann set fire to his apartment before he shot himself to death. Several families were left homeless in the blaze.
Yesterday morning, one by one, people spoke about the little girl they knew so well for her perpetual smile and flopping, always-loosened shoelaces.
Jessica's brother, Joshua Ruehl, 11, read a poem in which he called his sister "caring, the thoughtful one."
"Jessica, so precious and loved," the sixth-grader continued, crying unashamedly. A teacher caressed his shoulders.
Jessica's classmates -- Janelle Sutton's pupils -- walked to the marker and placed single red carnations there.
Before long, the flowers joined together as one, becoming a bouquet. The park will be a place for the school to remember Jessica.
"A peaceful place," Sutton told the crowd.
"Jessica, you're very, very missed and loved," she said.
Author: DWIGHT C. DANIELS
Edition: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9
Page: B-1:1,4,8,9 B-18:2,3,6,7
Copyright 1994 Union Tribune Publishing Co.
Sister to James Thomas III and Joshua Lucas
Half sister to Jenna Michele Allen
Jessica Corrine Ruehl: Peaceful park is living tribute to a slain child: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA) - April 21, 1994
Deceased Name: Jessica Corrine Ruehl: Peaceful park is living tribute to a slain child
Classmates of Jessica Corrine Ruehl, the 9-year-old caught in the madness of an angry, gunman last October, said a final goodbye to her yesterday.
"It gives closure to a nightmare," Naranca Elementary School Principal Linda Fisher said at a memorial service attended by about 70 people at the school.
"This is what we chose to do to honor Jessica," she said, as a small open park was dedicated to the fourth-grader.
There are only two trees in place now, but many more will come. A bench will be placed near a marble marker with Jessica's name engraved on it.
The park will be a place to celebrate Jessica's life.
Few have forgotten what happened last Oct. 30 to the El Cajon girl or to Virginia Catherine Eash, 46.
Terror enveloped a neighborhood that day, when Gordon Neumann -- a man often taunted by neighborhood children -- unleashed his rage on his neighbors at the Key Largo apartments.
Perched carefully in his upstairs apartment window, he took aim with a rifle and opened fire.
Jessica was mortally wounded, as was Eash. Five other passers-by were shot at random, four of them children who have since recovered. Neumann set fire to his apartment before he shot himself to death. Several families were left homeless in the blaze.
Yesterday morning, one by one, people spoke about the little girl they knew so well for her perpetual smile and flopping, always-loosened shoelaces.
Jessica's brother, Joshua Ruehl, 11, read a poem in which he called his sister "caring, the thoughtful one."
"Jessica, so precious and loved," the sixth-grader continued, crying unashamedly. A teacher caressed his shoulders.
Jessica's classmates -- Janelle Sutton's pupils -- walked to the marker and placed single red carnations there.
Before long, the flowers joined together as one, becoming a bouquet. The park will be a place for the school to remember Jessica.
"A peaceful place," Sutton told the crowd.
"Jessica, you're very, very missed and loved," she said.
Author: DWIGHT C. DANIELS
Edition: 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9
Page: B-1:1,4,8,9 B-18:2,3,6,7
Copyright 1994 Union Tribune Publishing Co.