Katherine Nixon, 42, worked as an engineer in the Public Utilities department. She was employed by the City of Virginia Beach for 10 years.

Nixon lived in Virginia Beach, and was a wife and mother. She was a parishioner at Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church, according to a Facebook post.

Her coworker, Brent Werlein, described Nixon in a Facebook post as a “sister and supervisor.”

“She was a supervisor everyone would want, tough on you when you needed it, pushed you as you needed it, discipline (sic) you as needed, and also compassionate,” Werlein wrote. “She was someone who truly understood the work life balancing act everyone has to do.”