People have asked Nick Keleman if he is angry at God after his 25-year-old daughter, Megan Keleman, was shot and killed last week.
“Why should that be me?” Nick Keleman told the 250 or so people who gathered at Riverwood Chapel in Kent on Thursday to celebrate Megan’s life.
“Megan was a soldier of God,” he said. The man who shot her was merely “one of Satan’s soldiers.”
From his perspective, Megan was a victim of an ongoing war between good and evil – a woman who had accomplished more in her young life than he had in his 50+ years.
“Make no mistake,” Keleman said, “Megan’s family is suffering.”
“The only word to describe where we are is fear,” he said.
The Keleman family, who live in Stow, have been avoiding media attention since a stranger shot Megan at a Taco Bell drive-thru during an apparent driving rage incident on Aug. 14. Moments after shooting Megan, the middle-aged gunman stepped back a few feet and shot himself as people watched in horror.
But on Thursday morning, Nick Keleman changed course and contacted a reporter from the Beacon Journal, inviting her to attend Megan’s funeral because he wanted to show what they were doing after Megan’s death.
Nick Keleman said he and his family could have sought revenge, but instead they chose hope, the idea that the future will be better, something that is deeply rooted in their Christian faith.
The wall behind the large stage at Riverwood Chapel served as a screen on Thursday morning, displaying a series of photos from Megan’s life.
Megan as a young girl swinging on the monkey bars.
Megan and her high school friends in their Stow-Munroe Falls High School gear.
Megan with her college friends, members of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority she founded at Cleveland State University.
In all the photos, Megan is smiling, laughing or making faces, which fits the adjectives her friends have used to describe her: “silly,” “quirky,” and “bubbly.”
Megan enjoyed wearing red lipstick, painting her nails, and watching the Cleveland Guardians, especially former second baseman Jason Kipnis.
But most of all, her friends and family said, Megan wanted to change the world for the better. That started with her daily interactions with everyone she met and continued through her volunteer work, helping girls gain confidence through running and choosing a career focused on helping children.
Megan, who recently earned her Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University, had recently started a job at Shelter Care, a Tallmadge-based organization that provides hope and healing to children and families in crisis.
Her life was an inspiration, said her only sibling, her brother Matt Keleman, who is seven years younger than Megan.
Matt said he is not as hopeful as his sister, but he now wants to live by some of the mottos she lived by, including, “Choose to be optimistic. It feels better,” “You have to nurture the thriving,” and Megan’s favorite motto, “Throw kindness around like confetti.”
Friends and family who spoke Thursday said Megan would not want them to grieve for too long.
“She’s probably sitting there watching … and telling me I have three minutes to cry and then I can pull myself together and get my business in order,” said Kaylah Bramer, who said she and Megan have been best friends for a long time.
Megan’s father, who jokingly accused Megan of messing up the page order of his prepared remarks on Thursday, said the entire Keleman family will follow her example and live life to the fullest.
If life was a race, Megan couldn’t have run a marathon, he said. But she set goals, made plans and ran her life as a 5K and “finished it strong.”
In the eight days since Megan’s death, the Kelemans have been working to establish a scholarship at Cleveland State University in her honor.
They have reached out to Ohio State Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) to urge both Republicans and Democrats to pass new gun laws that might have prevented Megan’s death or other deaths in the future. A judge previously ruled that the man who shot Megan and then killed himself should not have owned a gun.
And the Kelemans, who thanked their friends, family and neighbors for showing them love and kindness since Megan’s death, want to offer help and support to other parents who have lost children to tragedy while also dealing with their own grief.
“The Kelemans are here for you,” said Rick Keleman.
