BUFFALO, N.Y. — Whether watching her favorite game shows, playing bingo or gathering with loved ones, Celestine Chaney loved having fun.

“She liked to dance, she liked to have her grandkids around her, she loved to have her family around her. If there’s anything going on, Stinie gon’ be there with the family,” said her older sister, Joann Daniels.

Family was the most important thing to Celestine Chaney. As soon as you walk through the door of her home, you’re greeted by a wall with family photos. In fact, they’re all over her home. 

These people, so close to her heart, she leaves behind. Her older sister Joann was shopping with her at Tops supermarket when shots rang out.

"We were on our way out the store; we heard the shooting, but by it being summer, we thought it was firecrackers," Daniels said, "until it kept coming and kept coming."

Chaney was only steps behind her sister but unfortunately did not make it out of the market with her.

“She told me to go ahead on, she was coming. ‘Go ‘head on, Joann; I’m coming, I’m coming.’ But she never made it. She never made it. So, my sister saved my life. She saved me,” Daniels said.

Chaney was a devoted matriarch to her son, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchild. She was also a devout Christian who attended Elim Christian Fellowship every Sunday and participated in different women's ministries. She was known for her bright smile and infectious laugh, even through the unimaginable hardships she conquered throughout her life.

"No matter how many bad cards you're dealt, you could still win the hand," said Wayne Jones, Chaney's son, her only child. “She was dealt aneurysms; three and four aneurysms. Brain aneurysms. She was dealt breast cancer. And she still made it to her 65th birthday, which was last week, and if a coward wouldn’t have taken her life, she would be here today.”

Now her family lives for her, carrying on a legacy of peace and love that began with her.

“I find peace with her not being here knowing that she was happy and she was loved," said Chaney's granddaughter Charon Reed. "Her family loved her and she loved her family, so I feel like she ... I know she’s okay.”

“Unfortunately it had to be our grandma, but that’s why she has three voices here for her ... plenty ... just to speak for her peace today because I know this is probably what she would have said if she survived this tragedy,” said Kayla Jones, another grandaughter of Chaney's.

“It ain’t too many you get like my grandmother, so it’s a lot to deal with but it’s an impact that she left here for us, for us to be okay and to carry on something great for her,” said Chaney's grandson Wayne Jones, Jr.