LEAGUE CITY, Texas – Family and friends gathered at the Fellowship Community Church in Kemah on Sunday to remember Julia Dyinka.
The 43-year-old activist was described by loved ones as a proud Ukrainian mother who loved her three children and helped bring them to the U.S. just a few months ago because of the war.
“She loved a lot of people and a lot of things and that included Ukraine, her homeland, even though she moved to America. Ukraine was always in her heart, and she did everything she could so that her children, [and] I could take on the culture and language,” said her 14-year-old daughter Valeria James.
Dykina was found dead in her League City home on July 5.
Police said she was killed by her ex-husband Kent Hollis James in what they called an apparent murder-suicide.
Investigators said the pair had just recently divorced but still owned a home in the Magnolia Creek subdivision.
Valeria, like most at the memorial, did not want to focus on how her mother died. Instead, she chose to focus on the lives she touched and forever impacted.
“She would definitely want us to live our best life and not be burdened by her loss. She would just want us to be happy,” Valeria said.