In The Spirit Of Peace Songs, Prayers Celebrate Memory Of Felicia Reese

Felicia Reese sang Christian songs and prayed for her murderers just before they shot her in the head.

“She was sharing her faith in God,” the Rev. Stephen Allen told the more than 700 people who gathered Saturday near the clock tower in Riverfront Park to remember Reese. “She was singing to the Lord.”

That incredible faith, passion and courage didn’t die with Reese, said Allen, pastor at Reese’s church, the Harvest Christian Fellowship.

“We are here to honor her memory,” Allen said. “We are here to share the same brave and courageous faith.”

Reese, 22, was kidnapped and murdered Dec. 27.

Her friends pushed aside their sadness and anger. Instead of mourning her, they celebrated her spirit in a walk from their church at N1316 Lincoln to the clock tower.

They waved banners that read “Don’t forget Felicia.” They quietly sang hymns. They joined hands, hugged, cried and laughed.

“A lot of people are angry, but a lot of people realize we can make a change, become better, become active,” said Ken Whitehall, who Reese planned to marry in July. “People want to curb the violence.

“Enough’s enough.”

Just minutes before the walk’s 1 p.m. start, the heavy gray sky that for days dripped endlessly on Spokane gave way to a few bands of sunlight.

For a short while, it didn’t rain.

Felicia/”It’s remarkable,” said Noreen Bechard. “It rained all the way down here, and now it’s not. There have been a lot of people praying.”Dallas Spahr, a pastor at Harvest Christian, asked the crowd gathered in the church prior to the walk to let junior high and high school students and young adults lead the way. He urged them to walk with a sense of purpose, “a sense of healing and restoration.”Allen reminded those gathered on the hillside by the clock tower to study the contrast between Reese’s life and the lives of her alleged killers.Violence does not define the young generation, he said. “There is a different generation, proclaiming to the city they want to make a difference.”Rachelle Greenidge, 21, said she was awed by her friend’s giving spirit and her “caring even in her death.”Young people today must remember to hope, Greenidge said. “Out of this tragedy, we need to look to the Lord and know that good can come of this.”