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MARYSE LAGANIÈRE

Maryse Laganière — the only woman killed who wasn’t a student — was found in the doorway of a second-floor office, probably shot as she left her finance department desk, her union boss Doris McNeil said. “She was very gentle, soft and calm,” McNeil recalled after the massacre. “She was always smiling and was always appreciated by her colleagues.” Four months earlier, Laganière, 25, had married Jean-François Larivée, a former École Polytechnique student. The same priest who had blessed their marriage said a quiet prayer over her coffin. Along with her husband, Laganière’s mourners included her parents and 11 siblings.

MARYSE LECLAIR

Maryse Leclair, 23, was the eldest of four girls. She was brilliant, said Jean Blondin, a longtime friend and neighbour of the Leclair family. “Very intelligent and a woman of character. She had all the talent in the world and a promising future.” Blondin had crossed the street to the Leclair’s Laval residence after learning that Maryse was among the victims. “They were in shock,” said Blondin, of parents Pierre and Louise Leclair. “Pierre cried and stopped and cried again — you die inside — there’s nothing to say in a case like this.” Leclair was the first victim whose name was known. Her father, Montreal Urban Community police director of public relations, stumbled into a police officer’s worst nightmare Wednesday. He spoke to the media outside the engineering building about a gunman killing women, then went inside and found his daughter dead on the floor.