That’s because her father shot and killed her mother while she was a very young child.

“I struggled a lot growing up,’ she told those gathered Thursday evening for the annual Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil conducted by the Domestic and Sexual Assault Outreach Center.

“I remember people saying ‘You’re so strong,'” Burke said. “I tried to be strong all the time. I tried to be accepted and just do good.”

She described how learning that she, too, was a victim of her mother’s murder was key to her healing.

-Photo by Hans Madsen
Julie Burke, guest speaker at this year’s Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge talked about her mother, Rosemary McKee, who was murdered by her father when Burke was 2.

Burke told her story of tragedy and eventual healing in the sanctuary of St. Paul Lutheran Church, where about 25 red cutout figures stood as mute reminders of those lost to domestic violence. Each figure bore the name and story of one person who died at the hands of a spouse or significant other.

The vigil began with a video presentation of photos of all the people represented by those figures. Most of them were women, but there were two men and some children as well.

During the ceremony, people stood by those figures and read aloud the stories of those lost to domestic violence.

The lights were then turned off and the sanctuary was lit by the flickering glow of small battery-powered candles held by those in attendance.

Burke was the main speaker during the event intended to honor those lost and those who survived as well as offer hope that the scourge of domestic violence will someday be stopped.

-Photo by Hans Madsen
Vicki Campbell, of Des Moines, holds a candle for her daughter Heather Campbell, during the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge Thursday night. Heather Campbell was murdered on June 11, 2010, in Lake City.

Her mother, Rosemary McKee, left her father and went to the home of Burke’s grandparents. Her father came to that house and shot her mother in the chest with a shotgun. That was in November 1979.

Burke was raised by her grandparents, with help from aunts and uncles. All she has of her mother is a framed photograph and a ring.

She never considered herself a victim of the shooting that took her mother’s life.

“I’ve just always separated myself from it for some reason,” she said after the vigil concluded. “I didn’t even know I did it.”

The native of Chula Vista, California, moved to Iowa some 20 years ago and eventually settled in Fort Dodge.

-Photo by Hans Madsen
Marquita Hays, of Fort Dodge, holds a candle during the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge. Hays attended the event to show her support for victims of domestic violence.

She said she was talking with “the ladies at DSAOC” when they assured that she was indeed a victim of her mother’s murder.

“For the first time in my life, I realized I was a victim, too,” she said. ” This has allowed me to heal.”

“I’m going to keep talking, I’m going to keep sharing,” she said.

Burke ran the Des Moines Marathon last week in honor of her mother.

“I knew she was with me the whole time,” Burke said. “The finish line was the emotional piece.”

-Photo by Hans Madsen
McKayla Brown, of Clarion, leans on Cayla Humphrey, also of Clarion, during the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge Thursday night. Brown is the daughter of Joni Manning, who was murdered in Fort Dodge.

She was met at the finish line by her mother’s sister, who had traveled from Florida for the event.

The vigil also included Jennifer Brown singing two songs and a closing prayer by the Rev. Kendall Meyer, senior pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

-Photo by Hans Madsen
An orange rose was left in memory on Gina Pirie Abens’ red silhouette at the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center Domestic Violence Awareness Candlelight Vigil at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge.

-Photo by Hans Madsen