Ryanne Elizabeth Mace was born on May 13, 1988 to Eric and Mary Kay Mace, their only child and the light of their lives. She grew up mostly in northern Illinois cities, but did spend a couple of years living in the Portland, Oregon area as a child. She loved the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and her love of nature continued upon moving back to her home state.

While growing up she traveled to different areas of the country, finding things to enjoy and appreciate everywhere she visited. She vacationed with family in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina. She especially loved a trip she took with a group called Earth Explore to the Black Hills, The Badlands and Yellowstone National Park. The kids were allowed to dig at one site for fossils.

She often spoke of wanting to go out west again to show her parents all the places she thought were awesome.

Complementing her love of nature, Ryanne had a true passion for learning and was something of a modern day renaissance woman. She developed a wide variety of interests throughout her life.

She read every book she could get her hands on, studied French, played the violin and guitar and sang in the chorus. She enjoyed doing many crafts but especially excelled at knitting after being taught by her aunts. She wrote beautifully with a maturity that was far beyond her years. But greatest of all, Ryanne listened and retained the knowledge of those around her.

Ryanne possessed a special ability to help and comfort people because of her innate compassion and empathy. She was levelheaded and non-judgmental; consequently, many people felt comfortable going to her for advice. At some point she decided that counseling was what she wanted to do with her life.

Ryanne was actively service-oriented throughout much of her life. When Ryanne was in junior high school she was asked to join the Dundee Township Peer Jury. The purpose of the peer jury was to allow first-time nonviolent offenders an opportunity to remove some misdeed from their permanent record. Through her six years of involvement with this organization, Ryanne saw a number of kids that were on their way to a bad future turn their lives around. In addition to being a peer juror, she also was a member of the National Honor Society and the Beta Club through which she participated in a variety of good works. She also went on a couple of mission trips to Appalachia with her grandfather’s church. Through all of these efforts the common thread of her life shone through – she wanted to help others.

Ryanne graduated with honors from Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, IL in 2006. She was a member of the National Honor Society and was awarded the French Club scholarship. She also received a scholarship from Northern Illinois University, where she was majoring in psychology with the goal of becoming a therapist.

Despite her serious goals and hard-working nature, Ryanne was quite funny and a lot of fun to be with. Her family and friends immensely enjoyed her quirky sense of humor. She loved silly movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Princess Bride and she was crazy about television shows such as The Colbert Report and Scrubs. She made it quite difficult for her parents to discipline her, often making them laugh when they were trying to be stern with her about something.

Many other people who came into contact with her commented on her smile which they described as being as contagious as it was beautiful. In the workplace, she was popular with coworkers and customers alike because of her cheerfulness, positive attitude and outgoing personality. At school, her instructors found her to be bright, engaged and conscientious. She was one of the

students who really wanted to be there.

After her death, her parents took a long road trip with exceedingly heavy hearts. She had written in one of her journals that she wanted her ashes to be scattered in Oregon. Along the way, her mom and dad visited the places Ryanne had always intended to re-visit one day with them. On what would have been her twentieth birthday, Ryanne’s parents scattered her ashes at one of the most gorgeous, peaceful and pristine sites in all the world.

Although she was taken before her time, Ryanne’s desire to help others will be fulfilled even in her absence. Her family has established the Ryanne Mace Memorial Scholarship so that her legacy will live on. It will be awarded to NIU students pursuing a post-graduate degree in the field of psychology.

Editor’s note: These were submitted directly from the victims’ families of the Feb. 14 shootings to the Northern Star.