Her mother Marion Kminek told "The Washington Post" that Mari-Rae Sopper 'lived, breathes, and ate gymnastics.'
Sopper, 35, who had just accepted a job as the women's gymnastics coach for The University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) was in the process of leaving her job as DC-Metro area lawyer for the dream job she always wanted when the plane she was on, Flight 77, crashed into The Pentagon, killing all aboard on September 11th.
Mike Sharpless, her coach at Iowa State where Sopper was a stand-out gymnast said the following words which are on her memorial site (www.mari-rae.net) a few days after that tragic day: "Mari-Rae is an unrelenting force, hungry for excellence. I heard last Tuesday she entered heaven and she went with full force."
Sopper, who had been a resident of Maryland, took the Gauchos coaching post knowing that it would be the last year for the program. But, Sopper had hopes that she could change the outcome of UCSB's decision.
The Gauchos did in fact end up losing the gymnastics program at the end of their last season in 2002.
But, Sopper's memorial web site indicated that a fund in the former Cyclones gymnast's name had raised over $91,000.
PERSONAL NOTE: I chose Sopper's story because I follow college gymnastics very closely, and her story is one I still find compelling to this day.
Tomorrow, I will conclude what was originally intended to be a three-part series with a glance at three of the other people who needlessly lost their life on that day.
The photo used for this entry is of the Tear of Grief Memorial that was a gift from Russia. The piece by Zurab Tsereti is in Bayonne, New Jersey, and is meant to remember those who have lost their lives to terrorism. It was dedicated on Sept. 11, 2006.
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