Friends, family recall lives of selfless students, teachers

Story Highlights

• Students, teaching staff among the dead on the Virginia Tech campus
• Gunman killed 30 people, then himself in Norris Hall
• Two others killed in dormitory earlier

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(CNN) -- The victims came to Virginia Tech from different backgrounds and different continents.

Officials have begun to release the names of the 32 people shot and killed by a student on the college campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, on Monday.

These are profiles of the victims, accompanied by thoughts and memories shared by those who knew them, some of which have been edited for length and clarity.

Ross Alameddine, 20, was a student from Saugus, Massachusetts. The sophomore English major was shot during French class, a family friend told The Associated Press. A Facebook page created in Alameddine's memory called him "an intelligent, funny, easygoing guy who will be greatly missed."

Jake Valentine of Cincinnati, Ohio, wrote:
"I only went to high school with Ross for two years before we moved. We had 10th grade chemistry together, among other things, such as shooting the breeze before classes and at lunch. He'd always make class enjoyable with his humor, which even the teacher would acknowledge. There wasn't a mean bone in his body. He was one of the nicest, wittiest people you'll ever know. What strikes out most about him is that his Facebook status will always let people know how selfless he was. His last day started wishing one of his friends a happy birthday. He will be truly missed by all."

Christopher James Bishop, 35, taught German at Virginia Tech and helped oversee an exchange program with a German university. Bishop decided which German-language students at Virginia Tech could attend the Darmstadt University of Technology to improve their German. "He would teach them German in Blacksburg, and he would decide which students were able to study" abroad, Darmstadt spokesman Lars Rosumek told the AP. The school set up a book of condolences for students, staff and faculty to sign, along with information about the Virginia shootings. "Of course many persons knew him personally and are deeply, deeply shocked about his death," Rosumek said. Bishop earned bachelor's and master's degrees in German and was a Fulbright scholar at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. According to his Web site, Bishop spent four years living in Germany, where he "spent most of his time learning the language, teaching English, drinking large quantities of wheat beer, and wooing a certain fraulein." The "fraulein" was Bishop's wife, Stephanie Hofer, who also teaches in Virginia Tech's German program.

Tom Smither of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, wrote:
"Christopher 'Jamie' Bishop worked with us in the foreign language department at the University of North Carolina for a couple of years, and he was deeply loved by all of us here. We were saddened by his leaving us to go to Virginia Tech. We are absolutely devastated by his untimely death. He will be missed on this earth. God bless his soul and look after his lovely wife, Stephanie."

Ryan Clark, 22, was known as "Stack" to his friends in the Marching Virginians college band. The Virginia Tech senior came from Martinez in Georgia and was a "true example of 'The Spirit Of Tech'," according to a message posted on the band's Web site. He majored in biology and English, and carried a 4.0 grade-point average, according to the coroner in Columbia County, Georgia. Clark was a resident assistant at West Ambler Johnston Hall, the dormitory where he and another person were shot dead at 7:15 a.m. Monday. He had been planning to pursue a doctorate in psychology with a focus in cognitive neuroscience, according to the Marching Virginians Web site. (Watch what Clark's twin brother and sister said about their grief )

Arielle Perlmutter of Buford, Georgia, wrote:
"I worked with Ryan Clark at Camp Big Heart, where we both spent part of our summers counseling kids and adults with special needs. At camp, Ryan was one of my closest friends. We had many inside jokes and spent a lot of time being silly and laughing. Ryan never had a frown on his face, and even when something was bothering him, he was only upset for a short time and moved back to his good old happy self. Ryan ran the dance/music program at camp and was constantly moving, singing and entertaining both the staff and campers. Ryan was very happy himself and was always working to make others happy. Camp Big Heart will never be the same without him, and our camp community will bear the scars of the loss for many years to come. Ryan was a gift in the lives of people who met him. He will be missed forever."

Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French instructor at Virginia Tech, was instrumental in the creation of the first French school in a town in Nova Scotia. She lived there in the 1990s with her husband, Jerzy Nowak, the head of the horticulture department at Virginia Tech. Richard Landry, a spokesman with the francophone school board in Truro, Nova Scotia, told the AP that Couture-Nowak was one of three mothers who pushed for the founding of the Ecole acadienne de Truro in 1997. "It was very important for her daughters to be taught in French," Rejean Sirois -- who worked with her in establishing the school -- told the AP. A student who identified herself as DeAnne Leigh Pelchat described her gratitude to Couture-Nowak on a Web site. "I will forever remember you and what you have done for me and the others that benefit from what you did in the little town of Truro," Pelchat wrote in French. "You'll always have a place in my heart."

Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, New York, was a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to officials at her former school district. "She was just one of the most outstanding young individuals that I've had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator," John P. Latini, principal of Minisink Valley High School, told the AP. Hammaren graduated from the high school in 2005. "Caitlin was a leader among our students." Minisink Valley students and teachers shared their grief Tuesday at a counseling center set up in the school, Latini said.

Kevin Granata, age unknown, was one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country and was working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech said in an e-mail to the AP. He served in the military and conducted orthopedic research in hospitals before coming to Virginia Tech, the AP said. Granata's academic career included stints at Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University, the University of Virginia and Wake Forest University. "With so many research projects and graduate students, he still found time to spend with his family, and he coached his children in many sports and extracurricular activities," engineering professor Demetri P. Telionis told the AP.

Jeremy Herbstritt loved to chat so much, high school classmates voted him "Most Talkative." "Talkie, talkie, talkie, everybody likes to talk," read the description in the 1998 graduate's Bellefonte High School yearbook. Below was a picture of Herbstritt, with a sly grin, talking on a pay phone. Herbstritt, 27, had two undergraduate degrees from Penn State, one in biochemistry and molecular biology from 2003, and another in civil engineering from 2006. He grew up on a small farm just outside the central Pennsylvania borough of Bellefonte, where his father, Michael, raised steer and sheep. He wanted to be a civil engineer, and he talked of getting into environmental work after school. "He liked to work on machinery, take a lot of stuff apart and fix it," the victim's grandfather Thomas Herbstritt, 77, of St. Marys told the AP. "He was a studious kid."

Emily Jane Hilscher, 19, a freshman majoring in animal and poultry sciences, was known around her hometown as an animal lover. "She worked at a veterinarian's office and cared about them her whole life," Rappahannock County Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend, told the AP. Hilscher, of Woodville, Virginia, was a freshman majoring in animal and poultry sciences. She lived on the same dorm floor as victim Ryan Clark, McCarthy said. A friend, Will Nachless, also 19, said Hilscher "was always very friendly. Before I even knew her, I thought she was very outgoing, friendly and helpful, and she was great in chemistry."

Matthew La Porte, 20, of Dumont, New Jersey, was studying political science and French at Virginia Tech. He was also a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets band, the Highty-Tighties and the U.S. Air Force ROTC, according to his MySpace page.

Jarrett Lane, 22, was a senior civil engineering student who was valedictorian of his high school class in tiny Narrows, Virginia, just 30 miles from Virginia Tech. His high school put up a memorial to Lane that included pictures, musical instruments and his athletic jerseys. Lane played the trombone, ran track, and played football and basketball at Narrows High School. "We're just kind of binding together as a family," principal Robert Stump told the AP. Lane's brother-in-law Daniel Farrell called Lane fun-loving and "full of spirit." "He had a caring heart and was a friend to everyone he met," Farrell said. "We are leaning on God's grace in these trying hours."

Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor who, his son said, will be remembered as a hero. He "blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu told the AP. "Students started opening windows and jumping out." The elder Librescu, a professor at Virginia Tech, was recognized internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech told the AP. He was born and received his advanced degrees in Romania. (Watch Librescu's son remember his heroic father)

Professor Edward Smith of Penn State University wrote:
"Professor Librescu was well known in the aerospace engineering community. I have known professor Librescu for the past 18 years, ever since I was in graduate school. We attended the same annual conferences and worked in the same research area (composite structures). He was a true gentleman. [He was] always very professional and 'formal,' dressed in a business suit and very serious about his work. Professor Librescu had a good sense of humor and had many friends in the aerospace community. We are all deeply saddened by this tragic loss."

G. V. Loganathan, 51, was a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Since coming to Virginia Tech in 1982, he earned the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Civil Engineering Education, according to his biography on the Virginia Tech Web site. Loganathan, of Tamil Nadu, India, lived with his wife and children on Virginia Tech's campus, according to the Times of India. (Watch professor's mother mourn 'brilliant' son )

Ken Ying of Raleigh, North Carolina, wrote:
"Professor G.V. Loganathan was my professor when I was a graduate student in Virginia Tech. I worked with him for a research project and helped him with the computer lab management from 1985 to 1991. He was a kind and thoughtful gentleman. I always remember him for his elegant style and perfection in research and teaching. I learned a lot from him each time he gave me those helpful critiques on my works. It is a great loss of everyone from this tragedy. We just lost a great professor and a great friend. All my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. They just lost a great husband and a great father."

Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, of Peru, was killed while in a French class, his mother, Betty Cueva, told the AP. Perez Cueva was a student of international relations, an interest driven by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He spoke four languages, loved soccer and swimming, and was a member of the Honor Society, his friends said. "I'll miss his smile and his laughter," friend Donald Smith told CNN. "We're missing a friend, a very good friend." (Watch a family recall an ambitious son )

Jennifer Miller of Dale City, Virginia, wrote:
"I met Daniel Perez last year where we both worked at the time, and I liked him instantly, as everyone did. We became good friends and spent a lot of time together right before he left home to start in the fall. He was so excited to attend Virginia Tech. I remember frantically calling him the day in August that classes started when the other shootings happened, how he reassured me that everything would be OK and how he was his usual happy self. I wish we could hear his voice again, telling us that everything's OK now. I'll always remember him as one of the most ambitious and driven people I've ever met. He had a beautiful smile that would brighten up anyone's day and a wonderful sense of humor. He will be missed by many. Daniel's with God now, and that's my only consolation during this awful time."

Erin Peterson, 18, died while she was in her French class, said her dad, Grafton Peterson. The last time he spoke to her was during a visit at school on Sunday, he said. A fan of "old-school" TV shows like "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Sanford and Son," Peterson described herself on what appears to be her MySpace profile as a "jeans and a t-shirt girl." Friends left anguished messages on her profile as news of the shootings first spread. The messages now recall fond memories of graduation and prom night. "You have no idea how much my heart aches knowing I'll never see you again," one message read.

Katie Schoolfield of Fairfax, Virginia, wrote:
"Erin Peterson was the sweetest, most caring person I knew. I played basketball with her, and she was the 'big sister' of the team. She was always there to offer a helping hand or a giant hug on a bad day. Erin was the kind of person who walked into a room with a smile on her face and it made everyone else smile no matter what kind of mood they were in. Everyone in Fairfax, Virginia, from her Lessons Learned basketball family loves and misses her, and are keeping her family in our thoughts and prayers. Rest in Peace, Erin."

Juan Ramon Ortiz, 26, who was from Puerto Rico, was teaching a class as part of his graduate program in civil engineering at Virginia Tech. The family's neighbors in the San Juan suburb of Bayamon remembered Ortiz as a quiet, dedicated son who decorated his parents' one-story concrete house each Christmas and played in a salsa band with his father on weekends. "He was an extraordinary son, what any father would have wanted," Ortiz's father, also named Juan Ramon Ortiz, told the AP. Marilys Alvarez, 22, heard Ortiz's mother scream from the house next door when she learned of her son's death. Alvarez said she had wanted to study in the United States, but was now reconsidering. "Here the violence is bad, but you don't see that," she told the AP. "It's really sad. You can't go anywhere now."

Mary Karen Read, 19, was born in South Korea into an Air Force family and lived in Texas and California before settling in the northern Virginia suburb of Annandale. Read considered a handful of colleges, including nearby George Mason University, before choosing Virginia Tech. It was a popular destination among her Annandale High School classmates, according to her aunt Karen Kuppinger. She had yet to declare a major. "I think she wanted to try to spread her wings," Kuppinger told the AP. She said her niece had struggled in adjusting to Tech's sprawling 2,600-acre campus. But she had recently begun making friends and looking into a sorority. Kuppinger said the family started calling Read as news reports surfaced. "After three or four hours passed and she hadn't picked up her cell phone or answered her e-mail ... we did get concerned," Kuppinger said. "We honestly thought she would pop up."

Reema Samaha, 18, was a first-year student of Lebanese descent at Virginia Tech and went to the same high school in Centreville, Virginia, as the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui. Her father, Joseph, described her as a "shy girl till you got to know her." She was looking forward to majoring in urban planning with a minor in international relations because "she thought she could solve the problems of the world," her father said. Samaha, remembered as a beautiful and creative dancer, performed the weekend before the shootings, which marked the last time her parents saw her alive. "I keep her in my mind," her father said. "Her face is in my mental vision. It keeps me going." (Watch student's father remember his daughter's love for dance )

Andrew Gaddy of Chesapeake State, Virginia wrote:
"Reema lived down the hall from me. She was cherished by all for going out of her way to make everyone feel accepted and content. She would always give a kind smile and a greeting to everyone she saw. Everyone in our hall has been greatly impacted by losing her."

Joanna Abdallah of Clifton, Virginia, wrote:
"I didn't really know her, but she touched the lives of people very dear to me. I remember watching her on stage at Westfield High a couple times; she was very talented. Everyone who did know her thought she was nice, intelligent, and funny, and she will be missed. She survived the Lebanon/Israel war to die on her school campus. R.I.P. Reema."

Austin Cloyd, an international studies student, was originally from Champaign, Illinois and moved to Blacksburg, Virginia, in 2005.

Maxine Turner was a student from Vienna, Virginia, studying chemical engineering.

Minal Panchal was a freshman building science major from Mumbai, India.

Did you know one of the victims? Please share your thoughts and memories.

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