At its opening game this season, the Kansas City Chiefs paid tribute to the late Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a celebrated Shawnee native who was killed during the team’s championship rally earlier this year.
Before its kickoff on Thursday at Arrowhead Stadium at GEHA Field, the Chiefs invited Lopez-Galvan’s family onto the field to honor her memory.
Known as a vibrant presence and “everybody’s biggest cheerleader,” Lopez-Galvan was shot and killed on Feb. 14 during the Chiefs’ victory rally at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.
The formal pregame ceremonies began with a moment of silence while Lopez-Galvan’s picture and dates of birth and death appeared on the big scoreboard. Both teams lined in single-file formation on each of their respective end zone lines. The tribute concluded with artist Tasha Cobbs-Leonard singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
“The moment will also recognize all who were impacted, and each courageous person who ran toward danger, that day,” a spokesman for the Kansas City Chiefs said in a statement to the Kansas City Star, before the game.
Kansas City Chiefs open the NFL season with a moment of silence for Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the fan killed at the team’s Super Bowl celebration. https://t.co/zEVHNSn73n pic.twitter.com/eMlY1VIB3Q
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 6, 2024
Friends, family comment on the tribute
A celebrated DJ working under the name “DJ Lisa G,” Lopez-Galvan entertained people at parties and on the radio with the program “A Taste of Tejano” on independent radio station KKFI 90.1 FM.
Since Lopez-Galvan’s death, those who knew the DJ and personality are still deeply hurting, Joe Arce, publisher of the KC Hispanic News, said to the Johnson County Post.
“This had a huge impact, not just in the Latino community, but in Greater Kansas City, it’s had a huge impact,” he said.
Lopez-Galvan was known as a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan, with kicker Harrison Butker being her favorite player. At the game, her family — including her husband Mike, her daughter Adriana, her brother and her in-laws — all sported Butker jerseys and pins with Lopez-Galvan’s face and name.
“It’s a bittersweet thing,” Mike Galvan, Lopez-Galvan’s husband, said to the Kansas City Star. “My wife was a big Chiefs fan. It’s going to be a very emotional thing for our family, but she loved her Chiefs and would love for us to be there.”
Lopez tributes have been a source for good
Since Lopez’s tragic death, tributes and honors have come from all over the country.
A GoFundMe page that will help her family has as of Friday raised nearly $408,000, including two separate $50,000 donations from Taylor Swift.
The family recently led a scholarship fundraiser for a local high school and middle school to help kids who can’t afford tuition, Adriana Galvan said to KCTV5.
“That is something mom would for sure love to keep going. She always helped with summer school organizations like the Guadalupe Center, and she just helped around Bishop Miege Parish and St. Agnus Parish, and she would have wanted just any kid to succeed in life,” said Galvan.
Family, friends want gun problems addressed
While Arce is happy to see a variety of good things being done in Lopez-Galvan’s honor, he doesn’t want people to lose sight of the fact that she was a victim of gun violence.
“Even though tonight, people are looking for a win for the Chiefs, and there will be a lot of family members there celebrating Lisa’s life, I just hope that people don’t lose focus on the fact that something needs to be done in regards to gun control,” he said.
It’s a similar sentiment that Adriana and Mike Galvan have both expressed in other interviews.
“I want them to know that just to be aware of everything around you and gun violence is a big issue in our world and our communities, and it just needs to be handled better,” Adriana said in an interview with KCTV5.
Go deeper: Remembering Lisa Lopez-Galvan, whose joy and love of music touched lives across KC metro
Johnson County Post freelance reporter Greg Echlin contributed to this story.
