Profiles of 8 who died in Omaha mall massacre

Neighbor: Retired couple didn't deserve this

AP John McDonald

John McDonald and his wife of 40 years were getting Christmas gifts wrapped at the Von Maur when the shooting started. They tried to hide behind a chair, but he was shot and died before paramedics could reach him, said his wife, Kathy.

“He was one of the greatest people anyone could hope to meet,” Kathy McDonald said. “He had a fantastic sense of humor. He was so accepting of people.”

The retired couple lived across the Missouri River from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa. John McDonald, 65, loved music, electronics and astronomy, and he played bridge and the guitar.

“They were just nice, ordinary people who didn’t deserve this,” neighbor Shirley Acebedo said. She said her husband and John McDonald would talk football out in the yard.

John McDonald is survived by his wife, two children and seven granddaughters.

The devoted son

Ho / AP Gary Joy

Gary Joy loved writing stories and poems and was a devoted son, his 91-year-old mother said.

Inez Joy said her 56-year-old son often dined with her at her Omaha retirement community, most recently at Thanksgiving. “He always came when I needed help,” she said.

Gary Joy, a Von Maur employee from Omaha, died before he arrived at a hospital.

“I’ve been through tragedy before,” his mother said. “You hurt. There’s not a thing you can do about it.”

Joy, who had also lived in Denver, was divorced and had no children. He is survived by his mother and an older brother.

An outgoing personality

Ho / AP Janet Jorgensen

Janet Jorgensen, a longtime employee in Von Maur’s gift department, was popular with co-workers and customers alike, her daughter-in-law said.

Almost everyone who shopped there seemed to know the 66-year-old Omaha woman because of her friendly, outgoing personality, said the daughter-in-law, who didn’t want her name used.

Jorgensen, who worked at the store since it opened about a dozen years ago, is survived by a husband, three children and eight grandchildren.

'One of the good ones'

AH Maggie Webb

Maggie Webb was new to the Omaha Von Maur store. She transferred there from a Chicago location earlier this year, according to her alma mater, Illinois State University. She graduated in 2005 with a degree in business administration.

Webb, who was about two weeks shy of her 25th birthday, was the youngest victim of Wednesday’s shooting rampage.

The Quad-City Times reported that Webb grew up in Illinois and graduated from Moline High School in 2001. She was active in the school dance team and Spanish Club, among other activities.

“One of my staff commented to me about Maggie, saying, ‘She was one of the good ones.’ They paused, and said, ’No, one of the great ones,”’ Moline principal Bill Burrus said.

Associated Press calls to Webb’s parents and sister were not immediately returned.

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