'It's beyond sad': Barrington High School alum among Boulder shooting victims
One of the people killed in this week's mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, was a Barrington High School alum.
Jody Waters, a member of the Class of 1973, is being mourned by her former classmates and others connected to the school, as well as by people who knew her later in life.
Waters, who most recently lived in Boulder, remained "close friends" with some Barrington classmates for decades, said fellow Barrington High alumnus Blair Corbett. Corbett informed the members of an alumni Facebook group about Waters' death.
One member, Karen Lux-Roach, called Waters' killing a "tragic loss."
"It's beyond sad," group member Ginger Johnson Pillman added.
Waters was among 10 people killed by a gunman Monday in a Boulder grocery store.
Connecticut resident Andrew Lifshin was friends with Waters when they were classmates at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, now a university.
Lifshin recalled Waters as "beautiful and approachable."
"Her smile was contagious," he said. "Jody reminded me of a flower girl from the '60s. Easygoing, free-spirited, up for anything."
She was playful, too. Lifshin recalled how Jody suggested they pretend to be engaged while visiting one of his friends at Boston University.
"So we did and had a fun time leading my friend on for about an hour," he said.
Waters worked in the fashion industry in Colorado, owning her own shops for a while.
Among the companies she worked with was a leather goods firm in Boulder called Embrazio. Waters consulted with the company, did design work and served as a fashion expert for the company, a representative said.
"Jody was a beautiful soul with a warm and loving heart, a mother and grandmother, and she will be dearly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her," Embrazio's owners wrote on their Facebook page. "We are so sad."
Colorado state Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, had known Waters for years through Waters' retail work.
"(She) was just super energetic and nice and fun." Amabile told The Denver Post.
Amabile honored Waters on the floor of the Colorado House of Representatives on Tuesday, the Post reported.
Waters' family asked for space to process the tragedy, ABC 7 reported.