COEUR D'ALENE -- Kate Seely cried when bad things happened to good people in the movies, but hundreds of people have gathered to shed tears for the nurse killed by an obsessed stalker.
At least 200 people attended the Friday funeral for the 56-year-old nurse.
Seely was shot to death Sept. 8 by a former co-worker, who followed her quickly into her job at Kootenai Medical Center's youth psychiatric clinic. Ken Sheldon shot her to death and then turned the gun on himself, police said.
"She was stolen away from us by such a horrible act of cowardice," wrote her son, Kevin Austin, a serviceman stationed in Chicago who could not attend the service. "It is a result of senseless violence."
Her death was foreshadowed by years of Sheldon's stalking and obsession with the married woman. On four occasions, Seely and her family filed police reports about Sheldon's harassment.
He continued to follow her at work and even showed up in the parking lot at Hastings once, where she and her husband were renting a movie.
Sheldon had threatened that "somebody will die," court records show.
Although repeatedly charged with crimes, Sheldon never served time in jail.
"My anger is fueled by the legal system," Austin wrote.
Seely was a stay-at-home mother until her children graduated from high school. She then attended North Idaho College to earn her nursing degree.
Seely worked at the hospital's acute-care unit, designed for short-term patients. Wanting to develop longer-term relationships with patients, she moved to Life Care Center of Coeur d'Alene, a nursing home.
"Kate Seely was driven by love," said friend, Rhonda Smithson. "It was the most important thing in the world to her."
"She would even pray for parking spaces," said the Rev. Dan Lynch. "She was a prayer warrior."
