Services Planned for Woman Killed in Stage Collapse

Services for the 29-year-old Chicago woman killed when a blast of wind toppled a stage and its rigging Saturday night at the Indiana State Fair -- also killing four others -- will be held on Thursday in her hometown of New York.

A service for Chistina Santiago will be held on Thursday at the Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home at 6110 Riverdale Ave in Bronx, New York, according to her employer, the Howard Brown Health Center.

Burial will be held at St. Raymond’s Cemetery at 2600 Lafayette Ave, also in Bronx, on Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Howard Brown is working with Amigas Latinas, a gay and lesbian advocacy group for Latinas, as well as friends and family of Santiago and her partner, Alisha Marie Brennon, to host a memorial service in Chicago.

Brenno was also seriously injured in the accident.

Santiago was instrumental in the development of HBHC’s new women’s health initiative for LBTQ women and had received the center’s 2010 Spirit Award, the highest staff honor. She also was a board member for Amigas Latinas.

Santiago, a native New Yorker, "was an amazing woman—one of our very brightest stars—who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of women, particularly lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer women," said Jamal M. Edwards, the center's president at CEO.

She loved her work but she also loved Brennon. The two were one of the first couples to obtain a civil union in Illinois. They were "practically newlyweds," Edwards said.

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