Laura Schulte

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WAUSAU - A chair in Pam VanOoyen’s office sat empty Thursday morning.

The chair would have been filled by Sara Quirt Sann, for a 9:30 a.m. meeting that morning. But as VanOoyen, who works as a judicial coordinator for Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Michael Moran, sat at her desk in the Marathon County courthouse, she realized Quirt Sann would never fill the chair again.

“She always sat in that chair,” VanOoyen said. “Every time she came in. It was like her chair. ... We’d sit there and just share pieces of our lives with each other. And then when it was time to do court, we’d do court.”

VanOoyen said Thursday morning, she removed the chair from her office. At some point, she plans to put it back, and to hang a heart above it as a small memorial to the lawyer who became her friend in their years of working together at the courthouse.

Quirt Sann was killed during Wednesday afternoon’s shooting spree in Wausau’s south metro area. She was working as an attorney in the Tlusty, Kennedy & Dirks law offices, where she rented office space, when shots rang out.

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She represented the wife of shooting suspect Nengmy Vang, 45, who was in the midst of a bitter and drawn-out divorce. Police say Vang first went to his wife's workplace, Marathon Savings Bank in Rothschild, where he shot and killed bank employees Dianne M. Look, 67, and Karen L. Barclay, 62. He traveled to Schofield and killed Quirt Sann next, police say. Then he returned to his Weston apartment, where he is accused of shooting and killing Everest Metro Police Detective Jason Weiland. Vang was later shot by police; he survived but police said Thursday he has been under "intense medical care."

Aside from her college years, Quirt Sann was a lifetime resident of Wausau. She first attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned an undergraduate degree in journalism, according to her LinkedIn page. From there, she attended law school at the Valparaiso University School of Law, in Valparaiso, Indiana.

In law school, her nickname became SQuirt, said friend Amy Alderink Pearson. The two bonded over a love of Princess Diana, Alderink Pearson said, as she shared memories of her friend.

On a trip to London in the late 1990s “we picnicked in Kensington Park, hoping to see her,” she said.

In law school, Quirt Sann was known as the quiet one, but she was a loving friend to all who knew her.

“She was fun and wonderful and caring,” Alderink Pearson said. “We loved her and she loved us.”

After graduating from law school, Quirt Sann moved back to Wausau, where she started her work as a lawyer. She worked with children as a guardian ad litem, helping to investigate which solutions are in the best interest of a child during divorce or parental rights cases.

“She lit up when she talked about what she was doing,” VanOoyen said. “She was passionate about what she did. And she was good at what she did."

Quirt Sann was also a lover of a good glass of chardonnay, said Georgie Iozzo, owner of Iozzo's Italian Restaurant in Wausau. Quirt Sann would stop in a few times a week to enjoy a glass of wine, on her way home from work.

"She would just come in and sit in her corner. She had a special corner," Iozzo said. "She'd have her iPad, and she'd relax on her way home."

Over time, Iozzo bonded with Quirt Sann. When Iozzo's father, Jimmy Iozzo, passed away, she even helped keep his memory alive in the restaurant.

"She knew my dad very well, and he had this saying, 'Give me a Jimmy of wine,'" Iozzo said. "Which meant a half glass of wine. And she'd come in and ask for that. It was just a thing, a neat way to remember my dad."

Iozzo said that above all, Quirt Sann's gentle nature is something that she will never forget.

"She was just the most sweetest, special person you ever wanted to meet," she said. "She was always there to help."

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Peking Chinese and American Restaurant was another stop that Quirt Sann would frequently make. Every Thursday night, she would enjoy a glass of Chardonnay as she waited for her takeout food on the way home. She would chat with the bartenders, often lending advice and a listening ear.

On Thursday night, Peking offered their own special tribute: a single glass of her favorite Sonoma Chardonnay, with a name card bearing her name.

"She was one of the kindest, most sincere people I have ever met," said Tracy Wallender, who works at Peking and was friends with Quirt Sann. "Her quiet confidence and passion to help others was extraordinary."

That gentle personality is what helped Quirt Sann bond with children, both inside the courtroom and out. Dana Beck, and her young daughter Emily, met Quirt Sann at the Greenwood Hills Country Club. Quirt Sann's husband, Scott Sann, is the club manager and golf course superintendent there. Scott Sann posted a remembrance of his wife on Facebook Friday morning, in which he thanked the community for reaching out, and asked readers to "put on your armor" and post memories of Quirt Sann.

"She doesn't have her own biological children, but she still had that caring instinct," Beck said. "She'd drop everything to answer my daughter's rapid-fire questions."

Beck last saw Quirt Sann the week before the shooting, at Iozzo's Italian Restaurant, where she was enjoying a glass of chardonnay.

"She sat and talked to Em like a grown up," Beck said. "We talked about getting together and having a girl's night soon."

Beck said it was difficult to break the news to Emily after Wednesday's shootings. She hopes her friend's kind nature and infectious laugh are the things that people remember about Quirt Sann.

"She was just such a nurturing person," Beck said. "She didn't have a bad bone in her body."

VanOoyen echoed those words.

"She was unique," VanOoyen said. "She's somebody I strive to be like. There will never be another."

Contact Going Out reporter Laura Schulte at 715-297-7532 or leschulte@gannett.com; on Twitter @schultelaura.