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Family and friends of Gail Pumphrey, who was killed along with her three children on Thanksgiving Day 2007, presented a check today to Heartly House, a Frederick organization that helps victims of domestic violence.
The $7,200 check was collected during a fundraiser the family held at La Fontaine Blue in Glen Burnie in October. The family chose October because it is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, according to Jim Sollers, Pumphrey's nephew.
Montgomery County police discovered the bodies of Pumphrey, 43, and her children, David Pierce Brockdorff, 12, Megan L. Brockdorff, 10, and Brandon J. Brockdorff, 6, on Thanksgiving Day 2007 in Unity Park, which is east of Laytonsville in Montgomery County.
Police found the children's father, David Peter Brockdorff, 40, of Urbana with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area next to the park. A .22-caliber rifle was found near his body, police said.
Janet Blackburn, Pumphrey's sister, said Heartly House is important to the family because it supported Pumphrey, who had been abused by her husband.
Blackburn said the counseling Pumphrey received at Heartly House gave her strength, and that her counselor would attend her divorce proceedings for moral support.
"She would always leave [Heartly House] feeling empowered," Blackburn said.
The family also presented a $500 check to Forever in Our Hearts, a nonprofit established by friends of David Pierce Brockdorff at Urbana Middle School, where he had been a student.
E-mail Chris Brown at chbrown@gazette.net.
