Charleston victims

Pinckney was a man of faith, a pastor at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. “He’s moved us forward in his thinking, ” said Tim Brown, a member of the church since 1989. Members of his congregation say that when Pinckney stood in the pulpit, he threaded themes through his sermons that were always pointed and of relevance to what was going on in the community. He was not only a voice locally, but also in the South Carolina Statehouse where the Democrat with the booming voice served in the Senate since 2000. Four years earlier, he was elected to the House at age 23, becoming the youngest African-American elected to the state’s Legislature. “Sen. Pinckney was an icon in Charleston and an icon in Columbia and the state Legislature, ” said state Rep. Peter McCoy of Charleston. “He’s a guy that I’ve always looked to, always looked up to, in terms of always being morally sound and loved by his community.” Pinckney was survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two children, Eliana and Malana, who were often seen around the church with their father.

Susie Jackson, 87, longtime church member

Jackson sang in the choir of the church where she was a longtime member. She and fellow victim Ethel Lance were cousins. Jackson had recently visited her son and grandchildren in Cleveland, Ohio. Tim Jackson told Cleveland television station WEWS that his grandmother was a loving, giving woman with a great smile. “It’s just hard to process that my grandmother had to leave Earth this way, ” he said. “It’s real, real hard. It’s challenging because I don’t believe she deserved to go this way.” Susie Jackson, who was fond of playing slot machines, was scheduled to go on a church-sponsored bus trip to Chicago just days after the shooting and was looking forward to going to the top of the Willis Tower, said Jean Jackson, an associate member of the church.

Ethel Lance, 70, retiree

Lance was a Charleston native who had been a member of the church for most of her life. She retired after working for more than 30 years on the housekeeping staff at the city’s Gaillard Auditorium. She had served as a sexton at the church for the last five years, helping to keep the historic building clean. She was also a lover of gospel music. “She was a God-fearing woman, ” said granddaughter Najee Washington, 23, who lived with Lance. “She was the heart of the family, and she still is. She is a very caring, giving and loving woman. She was beautiful inside and out.” Lance had five children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, university worker

Whether she was working with college students or Charleston’s poorest residents, DePayne Middleton-Doctor wanted to be in a position to help people. So co-workers weren’t surprised when she decided to become a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. “She was a woman of God, ” said Joel Crawford, who worked with Middleton-Doctor at Southern Wesleyan University’s campus in Charleston. “She was strong in her faith.” Middleton-Doctor, the mother of four daughters, had started her job as an enrollment counselor at the university just months earlier, said Crawford, who worked with her as a student services coordinator. Before that, Middleton-Doctor had been employed for several years by Charleston County, where she helped administer grants aimed at helping the county’s poorest residents with problems they couldn’t otherwise afford to fix.

Tywanza Sanders, 26, recent grad

Sanders graduated in 2014 from Allen University, where he studied business. In a news release, the school described Sanders as “a quiet, well-known student” with “a warm and helpful spirit.” On his Instagram account, Sanders called himself a poet, artist and businessman. His photos were filled with friends, smiles, family members and motivational quotes. Hours before the shooting, he put up his final post, a meme with a quote from Jackie Robinson. It read: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” He was the nephew of shooting victim Susie Jackson.

Cynthia Hurd, 54, library manager

Hurd’s brother took some comfort in knowing his happy-go-lucky sister died in the church she grew up in and loved.The manager of one of the busiest branches of the Charleston County library system grew up in Charleston. Her mother made sure they went Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Sundays, Wednesdays and any other time it was open, said her brother Malcom Graham, a former state senator from North Carolina. “I wasn’t surprised on a Wednesday night she was there, ” Graham said Thursday as he stood a couple of blocks from the church. At the time of her death, Hurd’s husband was a merchant sailor at sea near Saudi Arabia. The library system issued a statement remembering Hurd as “a tireless servant of the community who spent her life helping residents, making sure they had every opportunity for an education and personal growth.”

The Rev. Daniel L. Simmons Sr., 74, retired pastor

Simmons had worked as a counselor and teacher at the state’s Department of Corrections and as a counselor with the Veterans Administration in Columbia. Speakers at his funeral recalled his varied days working as an insurance broker, a bus operator, and an active member of the AME church across the state. He was a retired pastor from another church in Charleston but would regularly stop by Emanuel. He earned an undergraduate degree in education administration at Allen University, a master’s degree in social work from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, and a master’s of divinity from the Lutheran Seminary in Columbia. “Everyone called him ‘Super’ because he was a super kind of guy, ” recalled the Rev. Michael Simmons of Dayton, Ohio.

Myra Thompson, 59, new minister

Thompson’s daughter, Denise Quarles, said the former public school teacher and middle school guidance counselor loved to tell stories. “A quick phone call was never a quick phone call, ” she said. Friends and family said Thompson was a studious, hard worker who led the historic African-American church’s property committee and served on its board of trustees. A program for the service said Thompson began working to become an ordained AME minister in 2014 and received her license to preach June 17, the day of the shooting. “This is a woman who I want to strive to be, ” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said at the funeral for Thompson. “She wanted every person she came in touch with to make them better.” Thompson’s widower, the Rev. Anthony Thompson, told the white suspect in the shooting, Dylann Storm Roof, at a court appearance before the funeral that the family forgave him.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, educator

Coleman-Singleton, who was on the church’s ministerial staff, held two roles at Goose Creek High School. She was a speech therapist and coached the girls’ track and field team, the kind of school booster who could never be missed at games because of all the shouting and cheering. Before she moved to South Carolina in 2007, Coleman-Singleton was a speech pathologist in metro Atlanta, working with students in DeKalb County Schools, friends said.