Hundreds gather in Maryland to celebrate life of slain journalist
Updated July 2, 2018 - 10:15 pm
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_web_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral.jpg)
Carl Hiaasen, center, brother of Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper offices, is consoled by his sister Judy, right, and Rob Hiaasen's widow, Maria, during a memorial service, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_AP_18180593782296.jpg)
This photo combination shows the victims of the shooting in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md., on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Top, from left, John McNamara and Wendi Winters; bottom, from left, Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman and Rebecca Smith. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_AP_18180407271736.jpg)
This undated photo shows Rob Hiaasen, Capital Gazette Deputy Editor. Hiaasen was one of the victims when an active shooter targeted the newsroom, Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Md. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral-6.jpg)
Hannah Hiaasen, center right, hugs her sister Sam following a memorial service for their father, Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper offices, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral-7.jpg)
Maria Hiaasen, center left, widow of Rob Hiaasen, reacts following a memorial service for her late husband, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper.jpg)
A cross with the name of editor Robert Hiaasen is placed at a makeshift memorial outside the office building housing The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., on Sunday, July 1, 2018. Prosecutors say 38-year-old Jarrod W. Ramos opened fire Thursday in the Capital Gazette newsroom killing five journalist. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral-1.jpg)
Judy Hiaasen, left, sister of Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper offices, speaks with a mourner during a memorial service, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral-3.jpg)
Maria Hiaasen, second from left, widow of Rob Hiaasen, and her daughter Sam, left, react during a memorial service for Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral-4.jpg)
Judy Hiaasen, center left, sister of Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper offices, hugs her nephew Scott following a memorial service, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_Shootings-Newspaper-Funeral-5.jpg)
Sunlight falls on Carl Hiaasen, brother of Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices, during a memorial service, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_web_hiaasen_memorial3.jpg)
People grieve the loss of Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices, during a memorial service, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (Gary Martin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10776584_web1_web_hiaasen_memorial2.jpg)
People gather to remember Rob Hiaasen, one of the journalists killed in the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices, during a memorial service, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Owings Mills, Md. (Gary Martin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — A celebration of life was held Monday for Rob Hiaasen, assistant editor of The Capital Gazette and one of five employees of the Annapolis newspaper who were gunned down last week in an attack that sparked an outcry across the nation.
Family, friends and colleagues turned out at a nature center outside Baltimore to pay respects to a joyful journalist dedicated to his craft of writing and storytelling.
Hiaasen, as a writer, was drawn to characters “quirky and eccentric,” said Kevin Cowherd, a colleague — “the oddballs in our midst.”
The celebration, held by Hiaasen’s family, also was a tribute to the editor who served as a mentor to younger journalists and touched the lives of those with whom he worked.
A former Baltimore Sun features writer, Hiaasen, 59, joined The Capital Gazette eight years ago. He is the brother of Carl Hiaasen, a best-selling author.
On Facebook, Carl Hiaasen said: “We are reeling, of course, as do all the loved ones of victims of such mad, inexplicable crimes.”
To the gathering of nearly 500 here, Carl Hiaasen said the family was lifted by the outpouring of love and sympathy from Rob’s friends and colleagues.
“My brother was a person of phenomenal grace,” Carl Hiaasen said.
Former co-workers and friends showed up in summer dress at the Irvine Nature Center. “Rob would never want you to put a suit on for him,” the family said in the announcement.
It is the first of the memorial services scheduled for Capital Gazette staffers killed in the Thursday attack when a suspect used a 12-gauge pump shotgun to blast into the newspaper offices and shoot employees.
Five people were killed: Rob Hiaasen; community columnist Wendi Winters, 65; editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, 61; sports staff writer John McNamara, 56; and sales assistant Rebecca Smith, 34, who was hired in April.
Two others were injured.
Jarrod Ramos, 38, a computer engineer and federal employee, was arrested and charged with five counts of first-degree murder. He is being held without bail in a detention facility in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Police believe a motive for the attack was a vendetta by Ramos that began with a column published in The Capital Gazette about his criminal harassment of a former high school classmate.
Despite his guilty plea and probation sentence, Ramos sued the newspaper and columnist Eric Hartley for defamation. A state judge dismissed the case, and an appellate court judge upheld the ruling, finding the column was based on court documents.
Ramos launched online attacks against the Capital Gazette and Hartley. That harassment followed the journalist to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Virginian-Pilot, newspapers where Hartley worked after Annapolis.
Hartley has attended vigils since the attack, and he attended the celebration for Rob Hiaasen, a former co-worker, on Monday. He declined to comment about the ordeal.
The parent company of The Capital Gazette has created a fund to help the survivors and families of the deceased. Anyone wishing to donate may contact the Capital Gazette Families Fund online. The fund is managed by the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County, based in Annapolis.
At the celebration, speakers said they preferred to remember the positive aspects of Rob Hiaasen’s life, not the carnage and destruction left behind by the shooter.
Rob Hiaasen’s older sister, Judy, recalled how much her brother loved his hair and how he refused to get out of the car when his mother took him to the barbershop. She also recalled him cleaning his bowling ball with her toothbrush.
His older brother, Carl, remembered his tenacity as a reporter.
“He was tireless. He would not back down. He would stay with a story. He would stay with a cause,” Carl Hiaasen said.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.
A previous version of this article gave an incorrect title for Rob Hiaasen.