VANCOUVER - As the celebration of Wendy Ladner-Beaudry's life began Saturday, the grey and dreary skies that had been hanging over Vancouver suddenly gave way and an illuminating light shone down through a glass ceiling onto those attending her memorial.

It could only have been seen as fitting for someone who lived to laugh.

Hundreds of people packed a building on the University of British Columbia campus in honour of Ladner-Beaudry, who was murdered while running through Vancouver's Pacific Spirit Park on April 3.

Ladner-Beaudry, 53, was remembered as a kind, caring mother of two who loved her work in B.C.'s sport community.

Her husband, Michel Beaudry, fought back tears as he took the microphone, a photo of Wendy nearby.

Beaudry confessed it was just the second time in his life he'd worn a suit, the first being his wedding day.

"Wendy must be smiling, if not outright laughing, because she knows how uncomfortable I am," Beaudry said while addressing friends, family and those whose lives Ladner-Beaudry had somehow touched.

Beaudry reflected on his wedding day and three decades with Wendy, saying he thought the two were going to live forever before he realized life isn't a fairy tale.

Beaudry, his voice breaking at times, pulled out a note he was given by his mother-in-law on his wedding day. The note told him what made the woman he was marrying so special.

Beaudry read it aloud, breaking into song as he said, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." He hugged brother-in-law, and former Vancouver mayoral candidate Peter Ladner, before leaving the stage in tears.

Ladner-Beaudry's daughter, Jenna, took the stage shortly after her father and told the crowd her mother was one of a kind.

"She was around when I needed help with my homework or when I needed a hug," Jenna said, adding that Wendy told her each and every day how much she loved her.

Jenna said she and Wendy recently played field hockey on the same team and that passing the ball back and forth with her mother is something she'll never forget.

While gang violence has become something of the norm in the Vancouver-area, with more than four-dozen shootings and 20 homicides since mid-January, the brazen attack on Ladner-Beaudry came as a shock to residents.

RCMP haven't disclosed how she died but police haven't ruled out the possibility that the attack on Ladner-Beaudry was a random one.

That, coupled with a body found outside a Vancouver elementary school Thursday by parents dropping off their children for class, has many Lower Mainland residents wondering what's next.

To that end, hundreds of people took part in a "take back the park" walk and run event Friday on the same trails where Ladner-Beaudry was killed.

Participants said it was important to show that they've moved past the fear that has gripped much of the community.