By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record
Family and friends huddled together Wednesday night to light candles and remember someone who's own light was snuffed out too soon.
Christy Dawn Whitmore was killed on March 22. She was 32. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office charged her boyfriend, Ryan Ansley Rendleman, with her murder. Sheriff's officials have called Whitmore's death a crime of passion. Rendleman is in the Catawba County jail under no bond.
That is little consolation to those who knew Whitmore best, though.
"Christy was always there for us," said Debbie Moses, a close friend of Whitmore. "She always tried to give somebody a smile. I know she's looking down on us and saying, 'It's OK, I'm fine, I'm in God's hands, there's no more pain, no more sorrow.' She's taking care of us from up there."
Moses said Whitmore, a CNA, took care of everyone while she was alive. When Moses was very sick, Whitmore stopped by her house on her way to and from work to check in on her and take care of her. When Whitmore's father was ill, she took care of him, as well.
Laura Mongro worked with Whitmore at Catawba Valley Primary Care. She said Whitmore was a wonderful person who was full of life. Mongro said Whitmore's No. 1 priority was her 12-year-old son.
Mongro said she felt like she needed to come to Wednesday evening's vigil.
"I was in Texas when this happened to Christy, and I wasn't able to come to her funeral," she said. "This gives me a time to pay my respects."
According to friend Martha Creed, Whitmore had a spark that few others do.
"My friend Christy had an amazing smile, and the twinkle in her eye when she said 'hello,' made you want to be her friend," she said. "She was a wonderful mother, sister, friend and employee. Of people like here there are too few."
Creed said she and others wanted to do something to help ensure what happened to Whitmore wouldn't happen to others in Catawba County.
"I know Christy would always want a safe place for battered women to go," she said. "Domestic violence is a crime and must be stopped. It always starts out mild, perhaps just with hateful remarks. He always apologizes and says he doesn't remember what he said or how it happened because of drugs or alcohol or some other excuse."
Creed said she and other friends and family members decided to establish Christy's Hope, in honor of Whitmore. It's a special fund to support the battered women's shelter that's affiliated with the Family Guidance Center.
"I know it would be Christy's hope to wipe out domestic violence in Catawba County. She would never want another woman to be afraid," Creed said. "It is our duty to say no more domestic violence in Catawba County, no more in this state and no more in this country."
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