Glenys Stanton was remembered for living life to the full and having a "smile that would light up a room" at her funeral in Auckland today.
Friends, family and co-workers gathered at All Saints Chapel at Purewa Cemetery in Meadowbank this afternoon to farewell the 47-year-old, who was shot dead in the bedroom of a lifestyle property in south Auckland on August 23.
Her two older sisters, Rowena Kenyon and Denise Michl, and her oldest daughter, Kristen Leefe, were among the pallbearers to carry her casket into the chapel.
Ms Stanton's youngest daughter Nicole Stanton gave an emotional tribute to her mother, describing her as gentle, kind, cheeky, fun and having a smile that would light up a room.
"To the world you were my mother, but to me you were my world," she said.
"It feels unreal that you've been taken from me so early and in such terrible circumstances."
Ms Stanton died with Trevor Waite, 51, who was farewelled at a service in Papatoetoe last Friday.
The pair were found dead on Mr Waite's bed at his home in Opaheke, near Papakura, by his 18-year-old daughter.
Ms Stanton started work as an international flight attendant for Air New Zealand a few months ago and Nicole Statnton said she loved that her mother went after the job she'd dreamed of doing since she was young.
"It suited you perfectly and it wasn't just a job for you, it was an adventure, and you were so happy.
"The precious memories I have of times we shared together will stay locked in my broken heart.
"I stop for a moment and close my eyes hoping that when I open them you'll be there, holding me tight and back in my life."
Ms Kenyon said in her tribute that the sisters lost their mother to cancer when Ms Stanton was just 15.
"It was the hardest on Glenys, who still liked to sit on her knee for a cuddle," she said.
She said her younger sister loved life, and lived each day to the fullest.
"Keeping up with her was exhausting."
She loved outdoor activities, had run a half-marathon and recently completed the Tongariro Crossing.
"Among all of this she stayed connected to her family, and we were very close."
Reverend Jo Kelly-Moore, who led the service, told mourners there was shock, anger and frustration over her death.
"It is not fair that this beautiful life lived so fully has been cut short by another," she said.
"Today we must be honest with those feelings and we gather to support one another and to care for one another."
Several Air NZ flight attendants attended the funeral and Ms Stanton was pictured smiling in her uniform on the service sheet.
It is believed Ms Stanton's former boyfriend John Mowatt shot her and Mr Waite after following her to Mr Waite's Opaheke home and finding them together.
Mr Mowatt, a 51-year-old father of three, was found dead near his car at Woodhill Forest last Wednesday.