Nancy Baraloto Heckel was a bright, 40-year-old on a new career path as a nuclear medical technologist last February when she was killed in a murder-suicide in rural Harford County.
Now, a year later, her family and fellow members of the class of 1994 at Johns Hopkins Hospital are preparing to award a scholarship in her honor recognizing a 1995 graduate who demonstrates the same qualities that made Mrs. Heckel a prize student.
"Nancy never lost sight of her patients or her colleagues. She had a sense of humor and it was contagious," said Jay K. Rhine, director of the Nuclear Medicine Technology Program that is jointly sponsored by Essex Community College and the hospital.
The first Nancy Baraloto Memorial Award, in the form of a $500 cash prize, will be given Friday to a student in his or her final year of study in the program that prepares technologists for work in hospitals, clinics and imaging centers.
Nancy Heckel was shot Feb. 24 by her estranged husband, Donald E. Heckel, who then killed himself on the Rocks Road property they had shared for more than half of their 18 years of marriage.
Family members are still grieving for both victims.
"The family doesn't hold Don Heckel responsible for his actions. We remember him with sympathy and forgiveness," said Pat Baraloto, Nancy's sister-in-law. "But Don's depression robbed two good people of their lives. No one's life should end the way theirs did."
Mrs. Baraloto said her brother-in-law had become depressed after nursing his terminally ill father through cancer, losing his job and separating from his wife.
She said the memorial scholarship fund is a way for family members to focus on the positive qualities of Mrs. Heckel's life rather than the tragic way it ended.
An award will be given each year to a student who shows "compassion, enthusiasm, a sense of humor and a blend of strength and gentleness," said Mr. Rhine.
"A lot of thought was put into those criteria. They really do sum up her personality."
"She was the kind of person who inspired the best in people," said Mrs. Baraloto, who added that her sister-in-law was the one everyone else in the family turned to for advice, consolation and encouragement. "She had a way of healing people's hearts," she said.
Mrs. Heckel, who had been a hairdresser in suburban Baltimore for 20 years, went back to school at Harford Community College in the early 1990s.
She transferred to Essex Community College when she decided to pursue medical technology. Medical technologists administer tests and operate equipment used in diagnosing diseases.
TO CONTRIBUTE
Contributions may be made to the Nancy Baraloto Memorial Award through the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 Wolfe St., Baltimore 21287