On a display table in one corner of the room were numerous awards from international organizations for her humanitarian efforts. On a poster board made of colored paper, friends could post their own awards on stick-it notes. One person wrote "gentle listener."

Corrie, 23, died one year ago Tuesday when she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to protect a Palestinian family's home from being demolished in the Gaza Strip border town of Rafah. Corrie was serving as a human shield for International Solidarity Movement, a group that advocates nonviolent means to prevent Israeli aggression against Palestinian civilians.

About 250 people gathered in the Olympia Ballroom in remembrance of her life and work, and in observance of her death.

Corrie's parents, Craig and Cindy, spoke about their travels during the past year. They retraced their daughter's steps to Rafah, learning about her cause and looking for answers to her death.

"I read a quote, 'The only cure for grief is action,' " Cindy Corrie said. "I guess that has really been the story of my strength and my ability to carry on this year."

Cindy Corrie also called for an end to the U.S. funding of Israeli occupying forces in Gaza and urged the crowd to lobby congressional representatives for action. A resolution currently before Congress demands a U.S. investigation into her death. Israeli officials have ruled her death an accident that happened when soldiers didn't see her.

Friends and former teachers from The Evergreen State College also described their memories of Corrie: her disorganization, her goofy voice, her energy in activism and her work with Palestinian children.

Lin Nelson, one of Corrie's teachers, said she found a student questionnaire filled out by Corrie during one of the first days of school. On it, Corrie wrote that two interesting things about her were that she knew how to use a chainsaw and perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

"I think it's so Rachel because there was always this playfulness, and these strange connections and juxtapositions," she said.

Lora Gordon, who met Corrie briefly while volunteering with ISM during a 10-month stay in Rafah, said there are pictures of Corrie and others who have died posted on walls in the city.

"It's a harsh reality, the reality of Rachel's death and what happened in Rafah," she said. "For me, they're all wrapped up in one single strand."

The gathering also drew Huda Suboh, whose husband, Army Capt. James Yee, was accused last year of espionage during his counseling of captives at the military prison camp in Cuba. Suboh spoke briefly with Corrie's parents after the event.

The crowd watched a haunting five-minute video of an interview with Corrie in the days before her death. After the speeches and music ended, the crowd lit candles and marched from Sylvester Park to Percival Landing for a vigil.

Some who attended said they didn't know Corrie when she was alive but came because she inspired them.

"So many people believe things or they say they believe things, but they don't let that change the way they live their lives," said Julene Graves, a student at The Evergreen State College who once met Corrie but never knew her well. "She put her money where her mouth is."