Community Celebrates Lives of Palo Alto Family

Friends, kin and acquaintances of the Howard and Dias family gathered Sunday to commemorate the community’s loss a week after a while they were in British Columbia.

During the held at , relatives and close family friends reminisced about characteristics and distinctive moments in the lives of the family members.

Although thoughts of the family brought many attendees to tears including the speakers, the memorial was less of a time of mourning than a celebration of the lives of the Howard and Dias family.

Cindy Howard, Sister-in-Law of Robert and Ana-Maria, said she’s fortunate to receive the constant outpouring of support from the community.

“My mother says I have a magic table. The table gets cleared off and then more food appears on it,” she said.

The community event revealed the family’s impact on others as well as the common love felt for the family.

“We’ve gotten so much support, the stories people have shared, this event that people have put on, it’s been overwhelming and we’re deeply grateful for the support people have offered,” Howard said.

Anyone interested in supporting the family can donate to an organization selected by the family, available on their website.

“We have on the website three organizations that Ana-Maria and Robert were engaged with and I would encourage people to look there and to make a donation to an organization that appeals to them,” she said.

The organizations were chosen based primarily on Ana-Maria’s involvement in the community.

“They are Palo Alto Partners in Education, which supports education across Palo Alto and in particular funds the art and drama programs that Ana-Maria supported; Friends of Preschool Family, which supports some of the work at Preschool Family; and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which supported Ana-Maria’s family when they arrived here as refugees from Angola,” Howard said.

KARA, a local grief support and education organization, was present at the event, originally called upon by the school’s administration.

“The principals of the schools called KARA,” KARA Volunteer Kathleen Weed said. “Kara has done outreach at other schools in Palo Alto. I think it’s really an attribute to the principals of the community and that they thought of everything, including to have free counselors.”

The memorial was an awe-inspiring experience that showed the effect the Howard and Dias family had on the community, according to Weed.

“From what I’ve seen, this gathering is absolutely amazing and that this family touched the lives of so many people,” she said.

KARA serves the community to help individuals with grief, even offering youth and adult programs in addition to scheduled school visits.

“KARA will help in any way that KARA is asked,” Weed said. “The way that KARA works is that people make the phone call if they want to come.”

The organization’s volunteers handed out information at their booth describing the organization and the service they provide outside of the memorial.

“In addition, if there’s anybody in the community whether it’s the family, any of these families, the teachers or children that want something after today, KARA has many things to offer and all people have to do is call,” KARA Volunteer Sue Shaffer said.