Profile of Mary Read (a knitter who was one victim of the VA Tech Massacre)

Mary Read

Hometown: Annandale, Va.

Age: 19 years old

Class: Freshman

Major: Undeclared

Location: Norris Hall

Related Links: Student, 19, with relatives here among the victims, (Rochester Democrat and Herald, April 17,2007)

Profile: Mary Read was a "fun-loving 19-year-old" who graduated from Fairfax's Annandale High School last spring, said her aunt, Karen Kuppinger of Rochester, N.Y.

Read had lived in Fairfax County since 1991, said Kuppinger, 42. Her dad, Peter, and stepmother, Cathy, are both retired military personnel who live in an older subdivision off Wakefield Chapel Road. Her mother, Yon Son, is a native Korean and U.S. citizen who lives in New Jersey, Kuppinger said.

At Annandale High, Read played lacrosse and clarinet in the concert band. She also performed in the band's color guard, her aunt said. She was an "excellent student" who had not decided on a major, Kuppinger said.

"Here's a story about what a sweet, family-oriented girl she is," Kuppinger said. "The last time I saw her -- a year ago Thanksgiving here at my house -- she kept disappearing while she was here. I finally said, 'Mary, what are you up to? Are you reading a good book or something?' She was knitting a beautiful scarf -- a multicolored fluffy scarf like the girls wear -- for her grandmother for Christmas. My mother still wears it. She did very thoughtful things like that always and was very close to her mother and father and brothers."

A large sign positioned outside the family's driveway yesterday read: "Mr. and Mrs. Read have gone to Blacksburg. They have small children at home and ask that they not be disturbed today."

Amir Abuelhawa, a former classmate of Mary's, said he recently spent the evening with her when she was back in Annandale during Tech's spring break. They watched the movie "V for Vendetta" and spent the evening catching up, "talking about everything -- school life and work," he recalled. They made plans to reconnect when she came home in a few months.

"We had the entire summer," Abuelhawa said. "Now I can't see her anymore."

--Profile from The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/vatechshootings/victims/Mary_Read.html