Kansas City Chiefs fan killed in parade shooting laid to rest with ‘sea of red’ jerseys: ‘Beautiful’
The avid Kansas City Chiefs fan who was fatally shot while attending the team’s Super Bowl parade was laid to rest Saturday in the jersey of her favorite player as hundreds paid their last respects to the mom of two.
A funeral Mass for Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 43, was held Saturday at Redemptorist Catholic Church, where mourners, many in red jerseys, filled the pews and lined the aisles. A line of attendees had also wrapped around the church for services Friday night.
“Last night I witnessed — along with many of you here — a very, very beautiful sight,” Fr. Pat Sullivan, of Lopez-Galvan’s home church in Roeland Park, said during the 90-minute Mass.
“And it wasn’t just the several thousand people inside and outside this church with a long line many blocks down the street, but the sea of red.”
“There’s a unity that exists that binds people together, even strangers, to this family,” Sullivan said.
The lifelong Kansas City resident and avid Chiefs fan was laid to rest in a jersey given to the family by her favorite player, kicker Harrison Butker.
A mariachi band joined in playing Lopez-Galvan’s funeral hymns. The beloved DJ and radio show host came from a family of music lovers. Her father founded the city’s first mariachi group, Mariachi Mexico, in the 1980s.
On Friday night, the city’s historical Union Station landmark was lit with the colors of the Mexican flag to honor her.
Support for Lopez-Galvan, who hosted the “Taste of Tejano” music night on KKFI radio, also flooded the airwaves throughout the week. A GoFundMe for the family raised nearly $400,000 as of Saturday, including $100,000 from Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs’ tight-end Travis Kelce.
Friends, family, colleagues and even strangers sent condolences on an online memorial website.
“She [DJed] for our family reunion in Topeka, Ks., and they just loved her, dearly!,” a message from one couple said.
Lopez-Galvan taped her final episode of the radio show the night before she joined nearly 1 million revelers to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win. She also wished her husband of 22 years, Mike Galvan, a happy Valentine’s Day, during the show.
She had praised her hometown champs — while also giving an eerie warning.
“Please be careful everybody. Getting down here, leaving … let’s be safe!” Lopez-Galvan urged listeners, according to the recording obtained by Fox 4 Kansas City.
Toward the end of the celebration, a dispute led to gunfire, killing Lopez-Galvan and injuring at least 22 others, according to prosecutors.
Lyndell Mays, 23, and Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with second-degree murder in connection to the deadly shooting incident.
Lopez-Galvan is survived by her husband and her three kids, stepdaughter, four grandkids, parents and large extended family.
“Wherever you saw Lisa, you saw Mike. Wherever you saw Mike, you saw Lisa,” her sister Carmen Lopez Murguia told Sullivan before the Mass.
She was a dedicated community volunteer and was described as “everyone’s biggest cheerleader,” according to an obituary.
“Lisa’s vibrant personality illuminated every room she entered, always bringing laughter and forging new friendships,” it read. “Her legacy as a beacon of joy will continue through her music and humor.”
“Heaven has gained a great person,” a friend wrote on the memorial site. “I was glad to have her be a part of my life.”
Lopez-Galvan worked for 14 years at her local police department before moving into talent acquisition, where she was passionate about connecting job seekers with new opportunities, loved ones and colleagues recalled.
With Post wires
