Parishioners at the Catholic Church of the Transfiguration in Cobb County, Georgia, remember Olga Woltering as "the life of the party." She was shot and killed when accused gunman Esteban Santiago opened fire at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.
"She was always a bright spirit," Ron Schaefer said. "We'd see her at church, and it was always a pleasure to see her smiling face and say hello to her."
On Saturday, those same church members who recalled the octogenarian's bright smile circulated news of her death. Parishioners said she was in her 80s, but no exact age was given.
She and her husband had been an active part of their congregation since 1978.
At Saturday evening's Mass, Father Fernando Molina-Restrepo spoke of evil, saying there are some people walking in darkness, "bringing pain and clouds of sadness into our world."
"We saw an example of this yesterday at the Fort Lauderdale airport," he said.
Woltering and her husband flew to Fort Lauderdale for a cruise, parishioners said. Friends said she was originally from England. Ralph Woltering had served in the U.S. Air Force, parishioner Alvin Connolly said.
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"From what I understand, their sons are in Florida with her husband right now," Connolly said.
The couple lived in a retirement community.
"She and her husband were kind of the life of the party," Connolly said. "They'd go to a dance, and they'd be the last ones on the floor."
"You look at them and say 'Man I hope I can do everything they do when I'm that age," Connolly said.
Woltering was active in the ladies auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charity affiliated with her church, said Roger Heil, the grand knight of the local Knights of Columbus group. Her husband was involved in the Knights of Columbus, he said.
