Hundreds Turn Out For Candlelight Vigil In Honor Of Slain UW Student

Aunt: She Was Light Of Our Lives

Updated: 11:32 am CDT April 7, 2008

The University of Wisconsin campus community remembered Brittany Zimmerman on Sunday with a candlelight vigil.

Zimmerman was found killed in her campus area apartment on Wednesday. The vigil offered comfort to more than 100 friends and students, WISC-TV reported.

"Brittany was the light of all of our lives, "said Zimmerman's aunt, Lisa Walcisak. "She was a little angel."

Zimmerman was thought of as special to her family.

"We had hopes and dreams for her beyond. She just wanted to do so much," said Zimmerman's aunt Jean Weichelt. "She was going to change the world."

Some UW students said that they wanted Zimmerman to know she was someone who became more than one of the thousands who walk the campus each day.

"For all of us, the one at least common thing that we all have is that we're all Badgers," said Gestina Sewell, an ASM (The Associated Students of Madison) member.

"We can probably know about ourselves that it could have been any one of us that this happened to, but it happened to Brittany," said UW Dean of Student Lori Berquam.

Zimmerman, 21, planned to dedicate her life to others in the field of medicine. Instead, she made her way into their hearts in a way that her family never imagined, WISC-TV reported.

"She probably wouldn't like it very much," said Zimmerman's aunts. "She never wanted to call attention to herself. She always thought of others before herself so she would not expect this at all. She would be just overwhelmed that people cared so much."

Family and friends told the crowd they felt as if the light of their lives had been taken.

"When she was taken from us, they didn't just take Brittany, they took a piece of all of us with her," said Weichelt.

A funeral service for Zimmerman will be held on Monday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Andrew's Catholic Church outside of Marshfield.

A bus is being provided for students or community members interested in attending the funeral. The bus will leave Memorial Union at 7 a.m.

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