Stacy Stetts of Williamsport stands quitely after talking about the loss of her sister, Jennifer Weaver-Powell in the late 90’s, during the candle light vigil and service held by Angel Families Unite at the Williamsport Bandshell at Brandon Park. The annual service was held with families and friends in attendance on the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

The mother and sister of Ronald Dailey Jr., Nichol Sites, left, and Linda Starr, talk about Dailey during the candle light vigil and service held by Angel Families Unite at the Williamsport Bandshell at Brandon Park. The annual service was held with families and friends in attendance on the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Victim advocate Bridget Irwin talks emotionally about the passing of her father during the candle light vigil and service held by Angel Families Unite at the Williamsport Bandshell at Brandon Park. The annual service was held with families and friends in attendance on the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Stacie Lyn Houser of Williamsport plays “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes during the candle light vigil and service held by Angel Families Unite at the Williamsport Bandshell at Brandon Park. The annual service was held with families and friends in attendance on the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Stacy Stetts of Williamsport stands quitely after talking about the loss of her sister, Jennifer Weaver-Powell in the late 90’s, during the candle light vigil and service held by Angel Families Unite at the Williamsport Bandshell at Brandon Park. The annual service was held with families and friends in attendance on the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

With a preview of the coming fall weather in the air, family and friends gathered in Brandon Park this week as Angel Families Unite held their National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims ceremony.

“This is technically our fifth year, but this is our fourth celebration,” said Bridget Irwin, a Lead Advocate of the group.

The National Day of Remembrance began in 2007 when it was officially recognized by Congress, according to Irwin.

“I started doing it in Alabama and Florida, and when I moved back home, I realized that it was a population that didn’t have any support, so I started it, and it’s grown from there,” Irwin said, explaining that it’s become a platform for people to “connect, heal, and then also advocate for justice for their loved ones.”

“It’s still bittersweet, because you see so many people come together who have experienced horrible things, but can still talk to anybody, and the community really comes together no matter what their race, religion, creed, what have you. Everybody just really bonds and supports each other,” Lead Advocate Rachel Gephart, who began volunteering with the group in 2018, said.

Irwin and Gephart both have criminal justice backgrounds, which each said has helped them in guiding grieving families and loved ones through the often seemingly unjust process that can follow violent crimes.

“I needed something to help me grieve, to get through that process, and this organization has really helped me do that,” said Lead Advocate Stacy Stetts, whose sister, Jennifer Marie Weaver Powell had her life cut short on Sept. 30, 1997.

“A lot of folks have the same emotions that I had, and it’s nice to be able to show them, it’s a lot of work in the beginning, but it does get easier,” Stetts said.

Navigating a loss such as this is difficult on anyone, but it is often children who bare the brunt of such trauma, and Chad Benner, President of North Central Bikers, based out of Sunbury, was on-hand to talk about the role they play in helping to ease that hurt, if only for a little while.

“We visit children who are experiencing tragic events in their lives, and we play with them for 90 minutes, two hours, whatever it takes to give them time to let go of what they are dealing with and be a child,” Benner said.

“We’ve been doing this for several years, and it’s been a blast. It really has,” he said.

The wind and rain set the stage as the somber event turned to speakers representing several Angel Families, who spoke on their respective losses and the lessons they were able to glean from them.

While the pain of a loss such as this will never fully disappear, “the intensity, frequency and durations do diminish over time with therapy, self care and self compassion,” Irwin, who lost her father Jan. 3, 2001, told the crowd.

“Homicide also forces us to face the darkest parts of ourselves. Those are the parts that stand in the way of forgiveness and peace,” Irwin said.

“I spent years feeling guilty and feeling the anger,” Stetts reflected, calling it hard to conquer, until one day when she noticed a ring of wild daisies growing around her sister’s burial plot. She took this as a sign that Jennifer had forgiven her killer.

“In that moment, I realized I had to forgive him, or he would kill me like he did Jen, through the anger. “I would not give him the satisfaction of allowing the anger to chew me up and spit me out,” she said.

Calling him “the light of the room,” Nichol Sites, reflected on the death of her brother, Ronald Dailey Jr., who, along with Alisha Seese, lost his life in a double homicide Jan. 11.

“It reminds me of all the dreams and goals Bubba had,” Sites told the audience, reminiscing on his then-impending marriage and watching his two children and niece grow up.

“Even the small things that many people would find stupid, like our pact to see Backstreet Boys every time they came to our state,” she said.

“Almost everything I do now is to keep his legacy alive, to tell everyone his story and who he was,” Sites said.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t speak of him,” Dailey’s mother, Linda Starr, told the audience.

“He was one who would make you smile on your worst days, and one who would give the shirt off his back to anybody, even if you were a complete stranger,” she said, adding that he had been a firefighter for 15 years, rising up to the ranks of lieutenant.

“Hug your loved ones a little tighter and tell them you love them as much as possible. Tell them what they mean to you, because tomorrow is never promised,” she implored the audience.

“Alisha was one like no other. Her kind heart, her great personality, her laughter would brighten the room,” said Seese’s mother, Wendy Coyle, flanked by Seese’s young children.

“Her love for her children is what pushed her daily to succeed,” she said.

“Through many struggles life presented to her, she would always say, ‘mom, it’ll be okay. I promise it’ll be okay,’ and I still hear her saying that when I need to hear it,” Coyle said.

“I was not expecting to speak, but I wanted to because she made a monumental impact in my life,” said Dalasia Hamilton, a close friend of Seese.

“She was patient and she was kind, and she was everything that a mother and a friend should be,” she said of Seese, referring to her as a second mother to her son and the sister she never had.

“I missed a phone call from her just days prior. I just really want to encourage you guys to answer the phone call,” Hamilton told the audience. “When you say you’re going to call them back, call them back because you really never know when it’s the last time you’re going to hear their voice.”

Anyone struggling with loss due to a violent crime is encouraged to reach out to Angel Families Unite through their Facebook page or at angelfamiliesunitepa@gmail.com.