OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Two days after Terri LaManno was killed in the Jewish Shalom parking lot — where she went to visit her elderly mother — her children are reflecting on how she lived her life.
“She loved with no boundaries,” Alissa LaManno, daughter, said. “She loved you whether you were black white, gay straight, weird, awkward, she didn’t care. She just loved everybody.”
Jennifer Handler, 26, is Terri and Jim LaManno’s biological daughter who was put up for adoption as an infant and reunited with them six months ago.
“I am so grateful for the time we were able to spend together,” she said. “And so saddened by the relationship that’s not going to be able to happen.”
As an occupational therapist at the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, LaManno helped parents care for their blind babies.
Stephanie Overcast remembers LaManno helping her with her son Mason when he was a baby.
“My son had a stroke, and we learned that he was going to have cerebral palsy, so just coping with that and dealing with that. Terri was able to bring us the to skills with the heart and the hope.”
It’s something her co-workers say she did with every child she worked with and that’s why her children decided to set up a scholarship fund in her mother’s name. To make a donation to CCVI in LaManno’s honor, click here.
