ST. LOUIS — A house filled with seven sisters never felt so empty with one gone.
"It was a perfect childhood, growing up. You couldn't ask for a better place to live," eldest sister Liz Haberberger said.
She said they're still trying to wrap their heads around losing their 23-year-old sister Dolores Boschert.
"Everybody just sat here and said nothing. We just sat in this room with 20 people and you could hear a pin drop," Haberberger said.
Boschert died in a tragic weightlifting accident early Tuesday morning.
"Dad called in the morning, really early, so you knew it wasn't good, and not in a million years, would you have thought that was why he was calling. Just terrible," Haberberger said.
Boschert was the 6th of seven sisters and an aunt to 10 nieces and nephews.
"My kids just adore her. All the other nieces and nephews adore her, because anytime Aunt Dolo would come babysit they knew they were going to have fun," Haberberger said.
Her devotion to family carried into her passion to help others.
"From probably sixth grade she said, 'I want to be a firefighter, I want to be paramedic,' and she never changed. Never complained, just like super disciplined, super competitive, super athletic, she was awesome," Haberberger said.
Boschert graduated from Lindenwood University with a degree in paramedicine and worked as a Christian Hospital EMS paramedic.
"We've all been on the receiving end of like a 'Guess what I just did!' and she would say 'I delivered this baby!' and I mean I don't know if anyone could love what they do more than she loved what she did," Haberberger said.
Now, she continues to save lives, as an organ donor.
"They said it was a really good thing that she was really young and really healthy so she's going to get to help a lot of other people," Haberberger said.
Her family is now focused on keeping her memory alive by helping others.
"We get to do what she would've wanted to do but now we get to do it for her," Haberberger said.
Christian Hospital EMS dedicated ambulance 4937 to Dolores Boschert.
A close friend organized a T-shirt fundraiser in her honor, all the proceeds will go to the family.
The family held a prayer service at St. Cletus Catholic Church Thursday evening.