PORT ANGELES — A week and a day after Laranda Konopaski was murdered, friends and family among the more than 60 who attended her graveside service Monday remembered the 18-year-old as young woman of strength and bottomless good cheer.
“You were happy-go-lucky 24/7,” said friend Shauna McNally at a brief service at Mount Angeles Memorial Park near the cemetery’s “Trail of Memories” glade of trees.
“It’s very hard to understand that you will no longer be here,” said McNally, who was Konopaski’s birthing coach.
Konopaski, the mother of a 4-year-old girl, was found stabbed and near death in her Forks mobile home shortly after 5 a.m. Jan. 8.
She died a short time later at Forks Community Hospital.
Moises Ramirez Matias, 25, the girl’s father, has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder with a deadly weapon.
His arraignment is at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Clallam County Superior Court.
Fighting tears, McNally recalled her friend’s plans to join her on a trip to Oregon.
“I’ll have to take a trip there for us,” McNally said.
Konopaski had a “one-of-a-kind smile,” said her sister, Vi.
Konopaski’s eyes were just the beginning of her beauty, she said, but there was more to her than even that.
‘Strongest girl I know’
“She was the strongest girl I know, and I know everyone will agree with me on that now,” Vi said.
Konopaski had her daughter, Mariah, while still going to school and also held down a job and graduated with honors, Vi said.
The service was officiated by Queen of Angels Deacon Richard Labrecque.
“There are times in life where we kind of move from one journey to the next, and this is one of them,” Labrecque said, urging those in attendance to hold onto their memories of Konopaski.
Relationships evolve “into the next life,” Labrecque said.
“Hold [those relationships] in your heart, and that’s where she will be,” he said.
A savings account — No. 9930468963 — that will be turned into a trust account for Mariah has been set up for donations at any Sterling Savings Bank.
A family member is seeking custody of the girl.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
