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Welder Amber Czech remembered
At St Anastasia Catholic Church in Hutchinson, a steady stream of mourners payed their respects to a young life taken too soon.
HUTCHINSON, Minn. (FOX 9) - A female welder was bludgeoned to death by a male co-worker on the job last week.
At St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Hutchinson, a steady stream of mourners paid their respects to a young life taken too soon.
Full of joy, ambition
Local perspective:
"Right now we are just trying to bless Amber and remember Amber in every part of her life that has touched people and touched everybody in this community," said family friend Shannon Visser.
Brutal attack
The backstory:
Amber Czech was working as a welder at Advanced Process Technologies in Cokato when her co-worker, David Delong, allegedly bludgeoned her to death with a sledgehammer last week.
Prosecutors say Delong told deputies he didn't like Czech and had been planning to kill her for some time.
"People are just shocked and in disbelief something like that could happen," said neighbor Benita Quast.
Showing support
What they're saying:
The National Association Of Women In Construction held an emergency meeting after Czech's death where hundreds of members shared their own stories of gender harassment.
Women trades workers from across the country have also contributed thousands of dollars to a GoFundMe to support Czech's family and worn blue to work to honor her.
"The thing is she represents the entirety of our population and it has hit a chord and our heart breaks for her family, for her friends, for all those who were touched by what happened to her. This was nothing that such a young woman deserved ever, ever, ever," said Rita Brown, the organization's president.
But those who knew Czech want to celebrate her life and the way she gave back to her community.
"We are just trying to give Amber the send off to heaven the best way we can. and come together as a church community and as Hutchinson to remember Amber and who Amber was." said Visser.
Dig deeper:
Czech's funeral will be at St Anastasia Catholic Church in Hutchinson on Saturday.
A fundraiser to help her family pay her funeral expenses will be at Unhinged Pizza in Glencoe on Tuesday.