Friends and family of Samantha Woll, a beloved Detroit synagogue leader found fatally stabbed over the weekend, remembered her kindness, her generosity and her dedication for helping others during a packed funeral service Sunday.
\u201cYour soul was beautiful and pure,\u201d her younger sister Monica Woll Rosen said as she stood next to her white casket. \u201cYou so deeply wanted peace for this world, you fought for everyone, regardless of who they were or where they came from. You were the definition of a leader.\u201d
Woll Rosen recalled her sister\u2019s love for her family, and how she would always rush to help others when they needed it.
\u201cOur world is shattered without you,\u201d Woll Rosen said. \u201cYou brought us light.\u201d
Woll\u2019s body was found with multiple stab wounds at her home on Saturday morning, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, the Detroit Police Department said in a news release.
Responding officers had followed \u201ca trail of blood\u201d to her home, where it is believed the crime happened, according to the Detroit Police Department.
Police have not identified a suspect in the case, and it\u2019s still unclear what led up to the killing. As investigators continue to probe for a motive, Detroit Police Chief James E. White said Sunday that \u201cno evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by antisemitism.\u201d
Woll was president of the board of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, served on the ritual committee, worked on the building\u2019s renovation and reopening and spearheaded fundraising, among other responsibilities, Rabbi Ariana Silverman said.
\u201cSam had a uniquely special, personal relationship with countless people across lines of faith and race and politics and all of the things that usually divide us,\u201d Silverman said. \u201cSo many people think of her as someone with whom they had a particularly close or important relationship, and each of them is right.\u201d
One after the other, speakers at her funeral recalled Woll\u2019s infectious smile, her giving spirit, her willingness to listen, and her consistent push to build bridges between people and fight for social justice causes.
The last text message Woll sent before her killing was a heart to a friend, \u201cjust because,\u201d her sister said. After she died, flowers that Woll had sent earlier arrived Saturday at another friend\u2019s home for their birthday.
\u201cShe believed in humanity, which of course is a terrible irony for today,\u201d said Rabbi Steven Rubenstein of Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield, Michigan.
Police trying to piece together timeline leading up to killing
The Detroit police chief said investigators are working with the FBI to \u201cforensically analyze all of the information obtained up to this point in an effort to ascertain the timeline that ultimately led to Ms. Woll\u2019s death.\u201d
\u201cIndividuals with information that may further this investigation are being interviewed,\u201d White said.
FBI Detroit has provided \u201ctechnical, forensic, and intelligence assistance\u201d in the case at the request of the Detroit Police Department, the federal agency said.
\u201cI again ask the community to remain patient while our investigators and law enforcement partners continue their work,\u201d the chief added.
Michigan State Police have been assigned to support local police in the case, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced. \u201cTogether, they will investigate this vicious crime and bring the perpetrator to justice,\u201d she added.
\u201cMy heart breaks for her family, her friends, her synagogue, and all those who were lucky enough to know her,\u201d Whitmer said. \u201cShe was a source of light, a beacon in her community who worked hard to make Michigan a better place.\u201d
\u2018A light has gone out in Detroit\u2019
The night before her body was discovered, Woll attended a wedding, where Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang said she last saw her.
Chang said the pair had discussed Woll\u2019s excitement over a new job and how things were going at Woll\u2019s synagogue and in her neighborhood, Lafayette Park. Woll ended up befriending a couple she had just met and was still in deep conversation Friday evening when Chang and her daughter said goodbye, the state senator said.
\u201cI\u2019m so, so glad that my last memories of Sam are of happiness and love,\u201d Chang said through tears.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose campaign Woll had been part of, also spoke at the service, highlighting Woll\u2019s encouraging and compassionate character and her powerful ability to connect with others.
\u201cShe could charm everyone. She charmed celebrities and naysayers alike. Her warmth could persuade even the hardest heart of the loudest heckler,\u201d Nessel said. \u201cSam gave everything of herself but she asked for nothing in return.\u201d
\u201cSamantha Woll may have been the nicest person that I have ever met, or will ever meet, in my lifetime,\u201d she said.
In an obituary, Woll\u2019s loved ones wrote she loved \u201call forms of art,\u201d including theater and opera, loved being in nature, had worked with several political campaigns and was also involved with many interfaith organizations.
\u201cShe was unfailing in her commitment to living in the moment and always saw the good in everyone she met,\u201d it said. \u201cSamantha will always be remembered for her tireless activism and for her passion to make the world a better place. She was an angel and there was truly no one kinder.\u201d
Her sister said Woll loved spending time with her nieces and nephews and often brought them markers and books from around the world.
Woll was also an artist, leaving behind paintings that now hang in her loved ones\u2019 homes and offices, Woll Rosen said.
\u201cSam, I feel like I\u2019m about to wake up from a horrible nightmare and you\u2019ll be next to me hugging me and holding me,\u201d Woll Rosen said, addressing her sister at her funeral. \u201cThis is not supposed to happen. I\u2019ll never understand why it did. A light has gone out in Detroit, in our hearts, for our people, for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n