Images of twin babies cuddled in their parents’ arm, a little girl with pigtails, a teenager shimmering in a red dress, and a graceful young woman at graduation flashed before mourners at a service Saturday for Eva Liu.
Liu’s family and friends shed tears and broke into smiles while reminiscing in English and Chinese about the warmhearted 21-year-old from Naperville who was killed in June while on a European vacation.
Liu and a friend were near the popular Neuschwanstein Castle tourist site in southern Germany on June 14 when they were attacked by a 30-year-old Michigan man, officials said. Liu was pushed off a mountain slope and died later at a hospital. The friend was also injured but recovered.
Their assailant is being held by German authorities on suspicion of murder and related crimes.
Liu graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May and was about to start a career as a software engineer for Microsoft.
A “giant heart” and “beautiful soul” is how longtime friend Elizabeth Tang described Liu.
