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Gunman's Aliquippa victim laid to rest
Thursday, May 04, 2000 By Mike Rosenwald, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
When Palitha Olden was looking for someone to play with, Garry Lee was always right up the street.
And they would play. They grew up playing together, on the street, in the yard, in a sand box.
Olden, telling the story of her lifelong friendship with Lee, was standing on a stage in the Church in the Round in Aliquippa yesterday before more than 500 people.
Below her was the casket that held her friend, who was 22 when he died,but in Olden's mind was not so far removed from being a little boy.
Lee, killed Friday in what police say was a racially motivated shooting rampage by Richard Baumhammers, was laid to rest yesterday following a service in the church where he grew up, right across the street from the house and yard where he often played with Olden.
The idea that her friend is gone was too much to bear for Olden, who finally broke down and began sobbing. But she had support from other mourners, who shouted that Jesus was with her, that Jesus was watching over Garry.
The service, -- loud, musical and deeply spirited -- lasted more than two hours. They were attended by a cross-section of people: the police chiefs from Aliquippa and Center Township (where Lee was killed), dozens of employees from the Giant Eagle where he worked, clergy from at least a half-dozen other churches, family and neighbors from the tight-knit community where he grew up.
A letter from President Clinton was read aloud.
For complete Post-Gazette coverage, click here.
George Thomas II, Lee's best friend, was a pallbearer. The two were next to each other at the C.S. Kim karate school where Lee was shot. Police say the gunman didn't shoot Thomas because he was white.
"It was a beautiful service," Thomas told a reporter afterward. "Garry was my best friend. He was a special person."
In the parking lot after the service, Thomas was consoled by Marcus Murtaugh, the instructor at the karate school, and Master C.S. Kim.
"I'm sure you are very sad," Kim told Thomas. "I can feel your hurt. I can see your hurt.
"But you will find the strength to move on. Now you will practice for two people -- for you and for Mr. Garry Lee."
With that, the two bowed to each other, both of them clinching their fists as a sign of strength.
Baumhammers' name was not mentioned during the services, though his presence seemed to snake its way through the comments of those speaking on Lee's behalf.
Bishop Melvin E. Clark Sr., said Lee died at the hands of a "sin-crazed assassin."
"The evil got into that man's mind," he said.
He went on: "Racism is alive in America. It's on the loose. In Pittsburgh and right here in Aliquippa. But God will judge it. God despises racism."
Melvin Jones, in speaking about Lee's love for his girlfriend Jessica Warren, who is white, said, "Color meant something to the man who shot Garry, but it means nothing to me."
"You are my sister," said Jones, a longtime friend of Lee's who is black.
Jones was perhaps the most touching speaker, looking down from the stage at Lee's mother, sister and grandmother, telling them how each one helped make his friend "the best guy in the world."
"Zetta, you were his mother, his rock, his strength. He talked about you all the time, about how much he loved you."
Jones said Lee's younger sister Lazett was Lee's everything." He remembered one time when they were all together in church. Lazett was just an infant.
"I told Garry, 'Don't rock that baby. She just ate.' Then she threw up all over his suit."
At that point, Jones recalled, Lee said, "That's my girl," and kissed his baby sister on her forehead.
Gaynelle Peebles, Lee's cousin, talked about the day Lee was born. She had to sneak in to the maternity ward to see him, because she couldn't wait until someone else said it was OK to go on back.
"So much of all of our lives and our energy was focused on Garry," she said. "He was that special one."
Peebles recalled a family vacation to Disney World. Early on in the trip, Lee burned his hand, and the family spent much of the vacation trying to make him feel better.
"It's so hard now to know that there's nothing we can do to help Garry," she said. "Garry's gone. There's nothing we can do."
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