GRIEF-STRICKEN PULL TOGETHER : CAMARILLO FUNERAL FOR SLAIN TELLER DRAWS LOVED ONES, STRANGERS.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer For most of the 600 people who crowded the church, Friday's funeral for Monica Lynne Leech leech, predacious or parasitic annelid worm of the class Hirudinea, characterized by a cylindrical or slightly flattened body with suckers at either end for attaching to prey. was a chance to remember the fun-loving friend, devoted mother and dedicated churchgoer. But for others - those who had never met the 39-year-old woman - the service allowed them to share the pain they felt over her senseless sense·less adj. 1. Lacking sense or meaning; meaningless. 2. Deficient in sense; foolish or stupid. 3. Insensate; unconscious. death. Imagine, they said, a mother of two just doing her job at Western Financial Bank in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , only to be killed by two robbers who had the money in their hands. ``I can't believe it. It could have been me. It could have been any of us,'' said Anna Ramirez, whose daughters are friends with Leech's daughter, Stephanie, 10. ``The tragedy has stuck with all of us. My daughter understands what happened, but she doesn't understand why. And I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to tell her.'' Mourners filled every seat in Camarillo Church of the Nazarene Church of the Nazarene (năz'ərēn`), U.S. Protestant denomination established in 1908 through the union of the Church of the Nazarene, based in California; the Association of Pentecostal Churches, a New England group; and the Holiness , filled the foyer in back and spilled onto chairs set up on the front lawn. Even then, many stood in Friday's hot sun, listening to the eulogies broadcast over speakers set up outside. Those who delivered spoke knew her from Rio Mesa High School Rio Mesa High School is located in Oxnard, California and is within the Oxnard Union High School District. It serves the Oxnard communities of River Park, Nyeland Acres, El Rio, as well as the western portion of the city of Camarillo. in Oxnard, Monica Leech's alma mater ma·ter n. Chiefly British Mother. [Latin m  ter; see m , from her jobs at the Bank of A. Levy and Western Financial, and from her church and community activities. ``She was a very good person,'' said Maria Alcala, a former co-worker of Leech. ``She was easy to get along with, Even when we argued, we'd always resolve it and everything would be fine.'' Some had known Monica for years, and had watched as she and fellow churchgoer Floyd Leech fell in love and eventually married. The story of their courtship provided humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was to an otherwise somber som·ber adj. 1. a. Dark; gloomy. b. Dull or dark in color. 2. a. Melancholy; dismal: a somber mood. b. Serious; grave. day. Dan Hull, Ventura Church of the Nazarene pastor, described how the two met and became friends. ``Floyd was in one part of the church and Monica in another,'' Hull said. ``Then they started to move to the same side of the church, then the same row, then next to each other.'' Soon, they were ``starry-eyed and out of it,'' Hull said. But beyond the chuckles were the tears as people tried to make sense of Monday's killing, in which the two suspects are still at large. Bob Hislar, pastor of Camarillo Church of the Nazarene, understood people's fears, and he asked everyone to have the courage to live life as Monica Leech had. ``We're kneeling between evil on one side and fear, which stops us from being who we should be. And we're asking God for a glimmer of hope,'' Hislar said. ``We can choose what we dwell upon. Monica would want us to dwell upon our faith.'' For family members, hope came in remembering Monica's uniqueness. Though relatives did not speak at the services, they wrote down their tributes, which were presented by Traci Fenimore, associate pastor for the Camarillo church. Elaine Cavaletto, Monica Leech's mother, described her daughter as her friend. Her father, proud of his daughter's knowledge of her job, called her his personal banker. Her 13-year-old son, Andy, remembered the times his mother raced to pick him up from track practice, then shuttled him to another event across town. Stephanie praised her mother for all of the sacrifices she had made for the family, recalling that she'd nominated Monica for Camarillo Mother of the Year. Floyd Leech's children from a previous marriage - their mother died of cancer - credited Monica with mending their family. Friday's services brought the family one step closer to change. Today, Stephanie will leave her Camarillo home to join her biological father, Jeff Mince, in Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. . Andy will move in Sunday, Mince said. Time with family will help to heal, Mince said. ``For their grandmother, having the children nearby is probably like having Monica with her,'' Mince said. ``And it's probably the same for the kids. Being with their grandmother is probably like being with their mother.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) Andy Mince, 13, is consoled at his mother's funeral Friday at Church of the Nazarene in Camarillo, which drew an overflow crowd. (2) Stephanie Mince, 10, stands over the casket during the funeral service funeral service n → misa de cuerpo presente funeral service n → service m funèbre funeral service funeral n for her mother who was brutally slain in a robbery. Alan Hagman/Pool |
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