Heartbreak in Gatlinburg: Family, friends pray for couple killed in Brussels

The last time Sean Toomey saw Justin Shults was three weeks ago on the screen of a smartphone.

The chat felt rushed, the childhood friend of Shults recalled Sunday during a phone interview with The Tennessean. But the moment is one that has flashed through his head multiple times since terrorist attacks in Brussels tragically cut short the lives of Justin and Stephanie Shults.

During the video message, Toomey's now three-month-old daughter Katherine was shown the phone.

"As soon as she saw him, she wouldn't stop smiling," Toomey said. "It's a happy thought that has stuck with me since."

The family, friends and community where Justin Shults grew up remember a man who accomplished much in his short lifetime and the woman who shared those adventures alongside him.

"I could not have been more proud of the man that he was," Shults' cousin, Ashley Shults Carr, said in a phone interview with The Tennessean. "He had worked hard for everything he had. He deserved every bit of it. He’s so smart. He earned it. I’m very proud of him."

Shults' loss hit particularly close to home in East Tennessee, where members of Shults' extended family gathered Easter Sunday to privately remember their loved ones. In touristy downtown Gatlinburg, there was no mention of Shults' death during Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church, where many of the attendees were from out of state.

But at the Shults' church, Richardson's Cove Baptist, pastor David Ayers called for continued prayers for the family. Ayers declined to comment on Shults' death, saying he wanted to let the family mourn.

On Easter in years past, Shults would hide eggs in the yard of his grandmother's Sevierville home for the family's young children to search for. Shults and Carr grew up together, two of four cousins born in 1986.

"Every memory I have as a kid involves him," Carr said.

Shults' grandma, with whom he was very close, would cook dinner while the family enjoyed spending time together.

This year, though, with the joy of the holiday gone, grieving relatives flipped through photos of Shults, recalling happy memories.

“It’s heartbreaking for all of the community of Gatlinburg,” said pastor Antony Punnackal after Sunday’s Mass at Gatlinburg's St. Mary's Catholic Church, located just off the town's main drag. “We support (the victims), and we’re keeping them in our prayers.”

Vanderbilt grads in Brussels described as happy, successful couple

Earlier in the week, before the news of the Shultses deaths, Punnackal led a special prayer service for the victims of the Brussels attacks. Now the community is grieving.

"I'm trying to find the silver lining," Toomey said. "Looking at pictures and travels, I keep thinking that although he was taken too early, he got to live such a blessed life and have such a great marriage."

Earlier this week, two homemade bombs ripped through the Brussels airport, leaving at least 31 dead in the aftermath. On Saturday the Shultses were confirmed as among those killed in the Tuesday terrorist attack in the European capital.

For Toomey he will always remember Justin Shults as the best of friends that life could offer. The two were valedictorians at Gatlinburg-Pittmann High School, played tennis together and were dorm roommates at Vanderbilt University.

And while Justin was always well-rounded, Stephanie Shults brought out a side Toomey had never seen in his friend. Together, Justin and Stephanie traveled the world, having adventures that Toomey said he was awestruck by.

"Every time I talked to him, he'd name three new places he'd been. I was almost jealous in ways. They were really living the life."

He added: "He got to do things in his 20s that some will never see in their lifetime. I'm working hard to just retire, and he'd done most of the things I want to do when I'm older before he turned 30."

The White House said President Barack Obama telephoned the parents of Justin and Stephanie Shults Sunday afternoon.

Obama offered his condolences and praised the Shultses as epitomizing all that was good about America.

The White House says the president also assured their parents that the thoughts, prayers and resolve of the nation are with them at this difficult time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.