Those words opened the Angel Families Unite National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims ceremony Friday night.

This was the sixth year of operation for the organization and their fifth gathering, which began when lead advocate Bridget Irwin, having recently returned to the area, realized that there was no such support system for the survivors left behind following the violent death of a loved one.

“Too often, when people talk about murder victims, they focus on the crime, the headline or the trial, but what rarely gets spoken about is what lingers after, what it means to fold laundry for a family member who will never come home to wear it, what it means to set one less place at the table every single night, long after the casseroles from neighbors have stopped arriving, what it means to carry birthdays, graduations and weddings as shadows instead of celebrations,” said Irwin, who at just 16 years old, lost her father to an accident involving a police chase.

“There is a silence that follows violent loss, a silence that outsiders expect us to ‘move past.’ But in truth, we carry the silence into grocery stores, into church pews, into workplaces. It is a silence that can feel like exile. Tonight, we break the silence together,” Irwin said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent A moment of silence is observed during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite at Brandon Park in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

“As you look around tonight, remember to set your grief down, even if just for a moment, and pick up the support that surrounds you,” she urged those gathered.

Also on-hand, were members of the North Central Bikers, whose mission includes helping to lighten the load of children going through often unimaginable situations.

“We visit children for various reasons, and losing loved ones is one of those reasons,” President Chad Brenner explained.

“We don’t work miracles. All we do is give that child 90 minutes of our attention to do whatever he or she wants to do, to forget what they’re dealing with. It sounds simple, but it does work,” he said.

“That’s what we’re all about, is trying to give them a few minutes, let them be children and play. And it doesn’t stop there. A lot of the children that we visit have our personal numbers. I get lots of calls, my wife was on the phone the other week for two and a half hours. Sometimes that’s all they need,” Benner said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent A message of remembrance is shown on balloons at Brandon Park during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

Several angel sisters and brothers spoke of their loved ones, sharing the lessons they’ve learned through tragedy.

“I look forward to this every year, because it’s a way of me telling my sister’s story, a way of keeping her alive,” said fellow advocate Stacy Stetts, who lost her sister, Jennifer Weaver, at the hands of her husband on September 30, 1997.

Stetts was consumed by hate for her sister’s killer until a visit to her gravesite, which lay next to his, gave her the strength to begin her healing process.

“Her grave was flourishing and full of grass and flowers. I noticed Scott’s was just a heap of dirt. All the way around, both graves were a row of daisies. It reminded me of Jen. Then a thought struck me, forgiveness,” she said.

“Until that day, I had not been able to go to Jen’s grave because Scott laid right beside her. It looked like Jen was trying to tell me to forgive Scott, like she did. It could be the only reason that her grave flourished whereas his did not,” Stetts said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Owen Dailey and his mother, Dawn look at a display of victim's photographs at Brandon Park during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

“No one’s grief is exactly like someone else’s. People who lose a child, it’s a crappy club,” Patricia Kreitz said of her son, Jakob Lee Haines, who was shot and killed by Brian St. John III.

St. John later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

“I felt a lot of guilt for what happened, even though I know it’s not my fault. I know I didn’t do this, but he was my son, and I was supposed to protect him, and I couldn’t that night,” Kreitz said.

“We all have things we see as signs. And I’m thankful for organizations like this, who are around to help people out,” she concluded.

Referring to him as ‘a hero,’ and someone who loved everyone, Nichol Sites, advocate and sister of Ronald Dailey Jr., who lost his life, along with Alisha Seese, during a January 2024 double homicide, spoke of how comfort can be found in even the most unexpected places.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Owen Dailey and his mother, Dawn look at a display of victim's photographs at Brandon Park during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

“My most hated video was the police walking up to the scene. It was raw, uncut, and you saw everything,” she said.

“Sometimes the videos bring a weird moment of comfort. For example, even after my brother was kidnapped and forced to drive at gunpoint, he still used a seat belt and he still remembered to put his turn signal on. His biggest fear was losing his license,” Sites said.

“Seeing those videos doesn’t hurt as bad, because even in those circumstances, he was still alive,” she said.

Dailey’s son, Owen, offered treasured memories of his father, who had a 15-year career with Independent Hose Company No. 1, rising to the ranks of lieutenant.

“He was my hero and my dad. He was someone to look up to when times were hard. He always made me laugh and have fun at the fire station,” Owen said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent A moment of silence is observed during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite at Brandon Park in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

“I remember when we were supposed to go to the store to get a turkey, and we forgot all about that turkey and got Mountain Dews instead. Then we went home without the turkey,” he continued.

“I just want to say I really miss my dad and love my dad so much. He was a really great guy,” Own said.

“Dad, I love you so much, and I hope you’re having fun up there in heaven,” he concluded.

North Central Biker member Valerie Bennet read testimony prepared by Heather Lane, the sister of Katlyn Harp, whose life was tragically cut short by an act of domestic violence on on June 19, 2025.

“Katlyn’s life was worth more than the violence that it took away. She was a person who deserved better, and I ask you to remember her, to remember all the victims of domestic violence, and to fight for a world where no one has to experience what she did. I ask that we do our part. I ask that we speak up when we see abuse. I ask that we support the survivors, and I ask that we never forget that love should never ever hurt,” the statement concluded.

Jane Streeter read a testimony prepared by Skyler Sholder, whose husband, Robert “Bobby” Sholder Jr., tragically died during a multi-vehicle crash along Route 54 in Montour County in July of last year.

“When someone you love is stolen from you, we still have to show up, we still have to cook dinner, go to work, answer questions from our children that we don’t have answers for, and all while living with the ache of who’s missing,” the statement read.

“Grief comes in waves. Some days, it knocks you off your feet, but together, I like to think that we are stronger. There is a power in numbers. Alone, we are a single drop, but together, we are the ocean,” Sholder’s statement said.

Streeter also offered her own experiences with violent crime, having lost close friend, Terry Minnier, a Lewisburg resident, to gun violence in 2018 in Lewisburg; and her brother, Anthony Gamache, who was killed during an attempted robbery, whom she credits with watching over her newborn daughter when she was sick, and more recently saving from serious injury during a traffic accident.

“We can do this. Remember the good times. Keep smiling, but without each other’s support, we fall, we break, we hurt. So today we give God thanks for the time we had with our fallen members and smile for their memories,” Holly Koch said, reading from a statement prepared by her brother, Michael Welch.

The siblings’ brother, Christopher Welch, was killed in a car collision in July 2021.

Following a reading of names of those lost to the hands of violence, the attendees collectively recited the chosen words of the ceremony, “live forever,” as balloons ascended to the Heavens, a message from those below that their loved ones are not forgotten.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Victim's names are written on the sidewalk at Brandon Park during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent A memorial is placed on a bench in Brandon Park during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Bridget Irwin, lead advocate, speaks during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite at Brandon Park in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Victim's names are written on the sidewalk at Brandon Park during the 6th Annual National Day of Remembrance hosted by Angel Families Unite in Williamsport on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.