Va. Town Quietly Mourns 1 of Its Own

This undated photo provided by Tim Piland, the senior pastor at Nansemond River Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va., shows Nicole White, a graduate of Smithfield High School in Smithfield, Va. White was among those killed in the shootings on April 16, 2007, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Nansemond River Baptist Church) (AP)

SMITHFIELD, Va. -- One of the many churches in this town founded as a colonial seaport has a sign reading "Va. Tech Families We Are Praying For You."

Next door, the local volunteer rescue squad also has a sign, a more personal one that honors one of its own members: "In Memory of VT Student Nicole White."

Here and there, throughout White's hometown, are symbols of the sorrow felt even by those who didn't know the 20-year-old woman with long red hair, a big smile and a deep faith in God. She died in Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech, nearly 300 miles across the state in Blacksburg.

"Everybody is upset and hurt," 81-year-old Gus Barlow said. "It's such a waste of life."

From Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico, small towns are coping with the sudden loss of loved ones, friends and classmates, many of them young people who seemed certain to have bright futures.

About 7,000 people live in Smithfield, a town of 10 square miles in the Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia that has been dubbed one of the prettiest communities in the state. It's known for the curing of Smithfield ham _ a salty country ham _ and for being the home of meatpacking giant Smithfield Foods Inc.

Barlow wears a Virginia Tech baseball hat as he walks past the old homes, specialty shops and eateries along the historic district's Main Street. Barlow never met White, but he donned the cap for his fellow Hokie.

"We Hokies are together _ always," said Barlow, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 1950.

Non-Hokies, too, are united in showing support for White, her parents, her 18-year-old brother and the rest of the extended Virginia Tech family, including another student from Smithfield, 23-year-old Matt Webster, who was shot in the arm and is recovering.

Instead of describing the daily specials, a chalkboard propped up on the sidewalk outside the Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and Cafe reads "Our Thoughts + Prayers Are With You _ Va. Tech _ Go Hokies."

Inside, Natalie Bangley, Desiree Craighead and other waitresses wear pins they made from ribbons of maroon and orange _ Tech's colors _ as they take orders for chicken salad sandwiches and cream of broccoli soup.

Even though the town has been growing, Bangley said it's still "a little Mayberry, really" _ the kind of place where someone who didn't know White, like Bangley or Craighead, knows someone who did, like Craighead's sister, Danielle Bennett.