THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604230162
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Drivers passing the corner of Independence Boulevard and Bonney Road late Saturday afternoon were startled to see a small group of well-dressed people placing wreaths around a metal structure in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant.
The sad little ceremony was one of the painful sidebars to the story of a life lost far too suddenly, far too soon.
The mourners were the family and friends of Wendy Russ, the 35-year-old Virginia Beach woman who was killed the evening of April 15 when her car was involved in an accident at the intersection.
``We wanted passersby to be mindful that a very special life was lost on that spot,'' her sister Robin Russ of Norfolk said Monday.
``We wanted the flowers to be a reminder on a sunny day that life is short. Be careful, be kind,'' she said in a voice filled with emotion.
Speaking of the brief newspaper story dealing with her sister's death, she added another caveat for those who have not experienced such a tragedy.
``All the times I've read these kinds of things - `35-year-old woman killed in accident' - and never realized the life behind them . . . ,'' she said, her voice trailing off.
The Russ family had moved to Virginia Beach from North Carolina in the 1970s and originally lived in the Green Run section of the city. Wendy Russ was a Kellam High School graduate who was employed as an intermodal coordinator for an international corporation.
She left behind her fiance, Gary Lopez, her mother, two sisters, a brother, a niece, a cat named Booger and a whole lot of people who cared a great deal about her.
``Thank you for caring, too,'' Robin Russ said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Wreaths were placed in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant at
Independence Boulevard and Bonney Road by family and friends of
Wendy Russ, the 35-year-old Virginia Beach woman who was killed the
evening of April 15 when her car was involved in an accident at the
intersection.
by CNB