World support aids envoy’s family

SEATTLE – The sister of slain Ambassador Chris Stevens said grieving by U.S. officials and others worldwide has been some support for the family.

“It helps to have the world mourning with you. It helps to know he was appreciated,” said Dr. Anne Stevens, a Seattle pediatrician.

Stevens told the Seattle Times she reads everything she can about the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed her brother and three other Americans.

“I want to understand how this happened,” she said.

The family worried about her brother’s safety, but “that’s where he wanted to be.” she said. “Nobody ever tried to talk him out of it.”

The family has created an online memorial to promote understanding between the Western and Arab worlds at rememberingchrisstevens.com. The Libyan government and philanthropist Gordon Getty have made contributions to the fund.

“I want to keep hoping the progress will continue,” Anne Stevens said. “We can’t run away and say it’s too scary and dangerous. We have to keep collaborating.”

Chris Stevens, 52, was a year-and-a-half older than Anne Stevens. She said he was her protector when they were children growing up in California’s San Francisco Bay area.

“He was a good brother,” she said. “I was lucky to have such a brother.”

He regularly sent emails to family and friends from Libya and most recently congratulated Anne Stevens on making Seattle Magazine’s list of top doctors in the area for her work in pediatric rheumatology.

The Stevens family is related through their mother, Mary Commanday, to Chief Comcomly of the Chinook tribe, the Seattle Times reported. He assisted Lewis and Clark in 1805 when the expedition arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River.