JERUSALEM—Three days after a deadly terror attack claimed the lives of two of her daughters—Maia, 20, and Rina, 15—and a day after the girls’ funeral, Lucy Dee, 48, died of her wounds on April 10 at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Dee had been in critical condition since terrorists opened fire at her car during a holiday family trip to Tiberias, immediately killing her two daughters. She had been fighting for her life after being evacuated by a military helicopter following the attack. Her husband, Rabbi Leo Dee, was traveling ahead with other family members in another car at the time of the attack and returned to the scene after rescue efforts had started. The victims were British nationals who made aliyah to Israel from England a few years ago.
Rabbi Yair Binstock of Efrat said Dee, who was an English teacher, was “the first address for everything. An amazing educator. Everyone who came into contact with her family saw it right away—a benevolent woman who opened her home to all, simply an angel.”
Lucy Dee’s funeral is scheduled to be held at Kfar Etzion at 2 p.m. on April 11, two days after her daughters were laid to rest.
The funeral procession for the girls began on Sunday afternoon in their hometown of Efrat. Thousands of mourners marched to the Kfar Etzion cemetery.
After the recitation of Psalms, the girl’s father eulogized them to the sound of weeping mourners.
“The formula for faith is always to focus on what you do have and not what you do not have,” said Rabbi Dee. “I still have three wonderful children and a wonderful wife ... ,” he said a day before his wife’s passing.
He described Maia as an industrious and affable young woman who was embarking on her second year of volunteering at the national service. “My beautiful perfect Maia, we named you ‘God’s water,’ and you were so many people’s friend, flowing between so many different groups. ... You were always an angel, now you will always be our guardian angel,” said her father.
He went on to compare his late daughter to the Matriarch Sarah of the Bible, saying that both women arrived, left and then returned again to the Holy Land. He added that much like Sarah, who was buried alongside her husband, Abraham, Maia will also be buried alongside her sister Rina, who he said dreamed of “traveling the world, but you’re now traveling to heaven.”
“Maia and Rina, you are two flames who have not gone out. You will bring more light to the world. You have inspired and loved us; in return, we will love you forever.”
More than 22 bullet casings were found at the scene after terrorists shot at the car in a drive-by attack. After the car crashed, the terrorists’ vehicle approached and took careful aim at the victims before turning and driving away. Authorities are continuing an extensive manhunt for the terrorists.
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