An Irish American family have paid tribute to their hero daughter who died ‘serving children and serving God’ in the Connecticut school massacre.
Mother of four Anne Marie Murphy was shot dead by gunman Adam Lanza as she protected her pupils at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday morning.
The 52-year-old Katonah, New York native was shielding the bodies of students when Lanza opened fire on them in the tragedy which claimed 28 lives.
Her body was found on top of a group of children, desperately trying to save them.
Her grieving parents have paid tribute to their daughter in a moving interview with the New York Newsday publication.
Hugh told Newsday: “A first responder said she was a hero.”
Read More: Gun toll; America 9,369 dead, Great Britain 14 -- get the picture? Obama should attend all the funerals in Newtown after massacre
The sixth of seven children, Anne Marie’s parents described her as "artistic, a fun-loving painter, witty and hardworking."
Mum Alice said: “She was a happy soul. She was a very good daughter, a good mother, a good wife.”
The McGowans, both 86, were looking forward to sharing Christmas with Anne Marie and 36 fellow family members Now she is lost to them forever.
“We loved being together,” Alice McGowan stated in the Newsday interview.
Dad Hugh told the newspaper : “You don’t expect your daughter to be murdered. That’s sort of a shocker. It happens on TV; it happens elsewhere.”
Mum Alice revealed how she turned to prayer when it became apparent Anne Marie wasn’t going to come home from school on Friday and how they were waiting for word that never came. She said her first reaction was to grab her rosary when it was confirmed and to cry.
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She told the newspaper her daughter " died doing what she loved. She was serving children and serving God.”
The couple attended Saturday morning mass at the St. Mary’s of the Assumption church in Katonah.
The pastor Father Paul Waddell told Newsday: “I was preparing to pray at the start of Mass but I looked up and saw a lot of teary eyes.
“They told us about their daughter, that she was a teacher, she was killed in Connecticut. So we prayed at this 8 o’clock Mass for all of them and for her.”
The family have asked that donations be sent to Autism Speaks, 1060 State Rd., 2nd Floor, Princeton, NJ 08540 or donated online at www.autismspeaks.org.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.KweenOHearts | Jan 08, 2013, 01:19 AM EST
@Bocktherobber: Why limit your ability to guess? It could be just as probable that "an all powerful best friend” might have decided that this world, crazy and evil as it appears to be presently was not good enough for His little ‘best friends‘, and might have decided to take them to a place where there is no more crying, suffering and crazy people! You think?
Bocktherobber | Dec 19, 2012, 06:09 PM EST
I'm guessing an all-powerful best friend would probably save the lives of 20 innocent children, but of course I could be wrong.
KweenOHearts | Dec 18, 2012, 03:51 PM EST
@esatdigiwank who says ***Serving God huh? And where was God during this ordeal? Could it be that he, oops He abdicated his duty..***--- Funny thing how the non-religious, the anti-religious, and the occasionally religious who ignore God and His commandments, who disrespect and blaspheme Him, who treat him as a non-entity and are forever questioning His existence... suddenly, after a big tragedy happens to them or to others they have all kinds of questions and recriminations: "Where was He?", "Why did He permit such a thing to happen... they were just innocent children!" ---- Shouldn't it be more appropriate for those whose indifference and disbelief is the predominant factor in their life, to rather curse the fates, the dark side of humanity, the randomness of evil inside people who, like they themselves, are obviously non-believers. For it is a fact that if those who commit such horrible crimes truly and sincerely believed in a Deity they would not commit them! -- God is not a Spirit whose presence can be conjured-up at will by humans, or who acts according to human calculations and desires. Were that the case He would be subservient to human wishes, and therefore cease to be God, wouldn't He?. ---- Neither is He some sort of 'Las Vegas-type mystical slot machine' waiting for people to insert a few prayers in order that eventually He can return a 'jackpot' of goodness and miracles. --- Know God, serve Him, treat Him as you would a best friend... and whichever way He decides to respond, you will not be disappointed.
SheilaSB | Dec 17, 2012, 11:41 PM EST
I agree with Stanchaz, and I thankhimjfor his comments.
Nicomax | Dec 17, 2012, 12:41 PM EST
Hard to believe, but some are proud of our stunningly high rate of gun homicide versus other nations. Just recall our pioneer heritage, conquering the western plains, moving those less-worthy Indians off their lands, incarcerating small-time drug sellers, 3-strikes and out. etc. We are a tougher, more 'manly' people, and the rest of the world knows it, and in many cases, admires such resolve.
esatdigiwank | Dec 17, 2012, 05:19 AM EST
Serving God huh? And where was God during this ordeal? Could it be that he, oops He abdicated his duty..
cillowen | Dec 16, 2012, 11:25 PM EST
She is a saint now with Irish saints who gave of themselves to save civilization. I wonder if repugnicks will take Obama's challenge seriously to stop the madness of the 50% who are stuck with founders scribblings - those landed gentry who were totally off base, unable to appreciate the future we're in.
Bocktherobber | Dec 16, 2012, 08:17 PM EST
The United States has a higher rate of gun homicide than the Congo, Sierra Leone and Uruguay. Gun killing in America is four times the rate in Lebanon and nearly six times the rate of Egypt. It's also six times the rate of the nearest comparable neighbour, Canada. It's twelve times the rate of Cuba and over forty times the rate in England. Maybe it's time to start asking why.
anneduffy11 | Dec 16, 2012, 07:17 PM EST
May God have mercy on all those killed and comfort the families as we celebrate Christmas. Take care and love your children every day
McNamara31 | Dec 16, 2012, 03:30 PM EST
Donegal6 True you can't legislate sanity however think for a minute just how the NRA acts like a gas accelerant to the flame of gun violence in this country.The NRA pushes it's agenda even thought they know there's a huge difference between a home owner owning a simple hand gun and the ability to purchase high powered assault weapons without a background check at gun fairs. Every time legislation is proposed to end assault weapons in this country, the NRA uses it's vast wealth to kill the legislation.They are the problem.
Donegal6 | Dec 16, 2012, 03:07 PM EST
STANCHAZ I agree with your feelings about the tragedy. I also know that many children the same age as these will die in horrid automobile crashes by the end of today. It is gut wrenching. Connecticut has very strict gun control laws. This demon was denied a gun due to these laws. DID THAT STOP HIM???? You can't legislate sanity. Take every gun from every gun owner and according to your theory there will be no armed robbery, and no events like this tragedy. That is emotional and not logical thinking. They can make all the laws they want, there are still wild animals on the loose and people have right to defend themselves. Harden these facilities so the cowards won't have any easy targets. The cow is out of the barn. Nailing the door shut will not change that.
Donegal6 | Dec 16, 2012, 02:53 PM EST
I wish she had a 45 caliber 1911 and shot the maggot as he walked through the door. My Daughter teaches pre-K and I worry all the time. And stopping the sale of all guns and all ammunition tomorrow will never prevent a crazy person, determined to commit a crime with some idiots unlocked guns as in this tragic case. These crazy cowards ALWAYS hit soft unarmed targets. Shouldn't our children be at least as our money in the bank? There is no law that can be written that will prevent this. More regulations, and Connecticut was very tight, will not help. If a would be thief sees a house with big dogs and an alarm system he will go to the house not so protected. The right to self defense is being trampled and had there been an armed guard or one of those people in the entire school was trained to use a gun AND ALLOWED TO CARRY IT AFTER ADEQUATE BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION this worm would not have been as damaging as he was.
ciaradexy | Dec 16, 2012, 12:55 PM EST
Why is it easier to get guns rather than healthcare in the US? There is no need to have a gun. Unless youre a farmer or live in the wild. Guns are for killing, end of story. I wonder when the next massacre will happen in the US. I reckon there'll be another by summer. Who'll be killed then? Hopefully it wont be anyone you know.
McNamara31 | Dec 16, 2012, 12:28 PM EST
Dublinborn,handsome68 "Guns are not the problem" Utter nonsense! And, there or 20 dead children lying in a mortuary because of America's insanity with guns. There are over 310 million guns in American household. That the problem!
IronMountainMovies | Dec 16, 2012, 11:36 AM EST
What is nearly as sickening as the massacre, is the blatant misuse and exploitation by religious nut jobs
RichardP | Dec 16, 2012, 11:10 AM EST
@Dublinborn - it's far more likely that mental illness played a role in this than taking the Christ out of Christmas. Stanchez is a lot closer to the truth in this case because whether they are Christian or not there are too many guns in AMerica in the hands of lunatics
handsome68 | Dec 16, 2012, 10:37 AM EST
Agree with Dublinborn. Guns are not the problem. Taking Christ out of Christmas is only one of the many wrong "deletions" that are producing an underbelly of disaster in the USA. Maybe America will wake up to its moral rot before it is too late.
Dublinborn | Dec 16, 2012, 10:13 AM EST
Stanchez, SHAME, SHAME ON YOU. For injecting your Leftist propaganda of hate at this time of mourning. There is one law on the books that has been there for centuries, Gods law thou shat not kill. But hypocrites like you banished God out of the public schools and the public square while you spent time advocating the slaughter of the unborn via abortion. Before you did that at a time we had the 10 commandments in schools also at a time when we had much more weapons available in the 30s, 40s 50,s etc nothing like this happened
stanchaz | Dec 16, 2012, 08:57 AM EST
SO HOW MUCH LONGER are we going to let the NRA, the National Rifle Association, and their filthy money, tell the rest of us what to do? How many MORE innocent victims? How many MORE dead children? IT"S TIME FOR REAL GUN CONTROL. GUNS don't kill people- but gun-owners DO kill people, and the gun-owners need to have their guns strictly controlled! And the time is NOW. President Obama: Please use this terrible tragedy to help our Congress act on gun control. Each of these twenty beautiful children sacrificed their short, innocent lives because the NRA pays off our Congress ... to stop effective gun control laws. NRA: you are a force for EVIL and DEATH in this great country.YOU need to be reigned in by the people.....those very same people who now will have horrid memories of twenty tiny coffins etched forever in their minds. Rest in Peace little ones. May your slaughter and your sacrifice not be in vain. May this tragedy finally wake America up - to take action against guns. ENOUGH! NO MORE INNOCENT VICTIMS! Old geezers like Charlton Heston, babbling in defense of their so-called “gun-rights, proudly proclaim “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands”. INSTEAD ...we need to concern ourselves with how we can pry the cold dead bodies of babies from the distraught bosoms of parents, and how we can try to explain to them ...why this national outrage goes on, and on, and on ...in the name of “gun-rights”.
like2tweet | Dec 16, 2012, 08:03 AM EST
She is a true heroine, God rest Her Noble Soul