By Brenda Norrell
At the end of a scorching day, with a gentle breeze at sunset, the people of Tucson came from every walk of life to a downtown park to honor a special soul that touched the lives of so many in her life and death.
Lillian Ruth Wright, known as Sunshine, was Lakota Sioux from Rosebud, South Dakota. Wright, 69, was found on the morning of June 12, lying in a pool of blood beneath the stars where she chose to sleep in downtown Tucson.
Rosebud Sioux tribal member Connie Laven and Sunshine's sister Sylvia Konop remembered Sunshine and thanked those who came to El Presidio Park to honor her.
Laven asked the crowd to imagine an Indian boarding school, with people carrying wajapi and fry bread, with beautiful star quilts and speaking words of respect. She asked those gathered to imagine Sunshine's friends shaking hands with the family and crying as they vowed never to forget her.
"We bury our dead very well," Laven said.
Attorney Robert Lundquist, who allowed Sunshine to sleep outside his law office and use the electricity and water hose, also welcomed her as a housesitter in his home during summers. Tearfully, Lundquist remembered this Lakota soul who gave him so much.
Bearing a basket of organic vegetables from his garden as an offering for those who came and were in need of food, Lundquist spoke of the gifts that Sunshine gave him."She was a gift to humanity, as we all can be," Lundquist told the crowd of several hundred friends, attorneys, community members and people who make their homes on the streets of Tucson.
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