SAVOY — Yingying Zhang was remembered Friday as a brilliant young woman with an easy smile, a kind heart and big dreams who put others first.

Under bright blue skies, friends, family members and well-wishers filled First Baptist Church in Savoy to say goodbye to the University of Illinois scholar from China who was kidnapped and killed in June 2017.

Her father, Ronggao Zhang, gave the first eulogy, thanking friends, pastors and others who have supported the family over the last two years and describing how much he and his wife miss their daughter.

“We will always remember your kindness in our hearts. No words can describe how thankful we are,” he said.

He described his daughter as a “good and smart girl” and hard-working student who recognized her family’s limited financial means and took it upon herself to secure scholarships for college. When she found out there were others in greater need, she gave up some financial-aid opportunities to them, he said.

She excelled in school, earning top scores at a prestigious high school even though the family had no money for tutors, he said. Her performance there is still “unrivaled,” he said.

'I miss her so much'

Her mother, Lifeng Ye, said she and her father worried that all the compliments they heard about their daughter would go to her head, so they kept them in their hearts.

She said her daughter was independent but thoughtful to her family, walking her brother to school and surprising her mom with a birthday cake.

She was always ready to help others, they said, giving extra lessons to classmates in college and volunteering during graduate school to teach underprivileged children in a remote area of China.

Helping others “had always been her dream,” Ye said.

“Every Mother’s Day and Chinese New Year, I think of her. I miss her so much, in pain and suffering,” her mother said.

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Ronggao Zhang said it’s hard to describe how much he misses his daughter: “Our number-one goal is to find Yingying and bring her home.”

With the semester starting, he also urged everyone to help other international students “stay safe so that their parents won’t be worried.”

'The brightest star in my heart'

Ms. Zhang’s younger brother, Xinyang Zhang, read a letter from her fiance, Xiaolin Hou, who described her family’s humble background and how “through hard work and perseverance, she had to march through life one step at a time,” he said.

But she was also extraordinary, he said, attending the best universities in China and being “kind to everyone around her.”

“Yinging was a girl with a big dream. She had a clear plan for the future, and she had the brightest smile I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“Yinging has definitely made me a better person throughout eight-year journey together,” he said, even during the “fiery ordeal” of the last two years.

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Hao said Ms. Zhang’s death has had impact, making international students more cautious about security, prompting police to respond more quickly to reports of missing students, and uniting the local Chinese community.

She and her family have inspired Americans and people all over the world with their strength and dignity, he said.

“Yinging will always be the brightest star in my heart, whether living beside us on earth or shining in heaven forever,” he said.

'Evil will not win'

While sad, the mood in the church was a respite from the grueling ordeal her family has endured since her death.

A dozen flower arrangements covered the front of the alter as a Chinese choir sang uplifting hymns. Her father placed a box filled with her belongings under her portrait.

First Baptist Pastor Chuck Moore and Pastor Tim Bossenbroek of Hessel Park Christian Reformed Church offered words of comfort from scripture, with Moore recalling her “joyful and giving” spirit and gracious ability to bridge cultures.

Quoting psalms, Bossenbroek asked for peace for Ms. Zhang’s family, fiance and friends, their “hearts with sadness and souls tattered by grief.”

“While we grieve,” he said, “we give thanks for the life of Yingying” — for her talents, her love and devotion to her parents and fiance, her “brilliant, inquisitive mind” and her compassion to serve others and use her talents to help those in greater need.

Moore said he had no answers to the question of why this tragedy occurred, but urged her loved ones to “find help in each other” and praised the support given to the family by the community.

“We have shown to the world that evil will not win,” he said. “We have stood together as one.”

'Hope and concern'

Several UI officials were in attendance, including a UI police officer and Kim Kidwell, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, where Ms. Zhang was a visiting scholar with hopes of getting her Ph.D.

Handing out programs, church member Sylvia Hunter said she wanted to support the family and friends and show them “hope and concern.”

“It’s been such a long process, and a lot of pain,” she said. “When people surround you with love, it makes a big difference.”