BURLINGTON — Loved ones gathered Saturday, Feb. 10, for the funeral of a couple who was shot-and-killed at a bar in downtown Elkhorn on Feb. 1.
Family, friends, coworkers, and community members filled St. John’s Lutheran Church in Burlington to honor the lives of Gina and Emerson Weingart. It’s the same church where they were married in June of 2023.
“It’s horrible how you can take both of them, but Gina for me was such a kind, loving, bubbly human being. It’s crazy that was just taken away,” Heather Duzynski, Gina’s cousin, shared. They were born just two weeks apart and grew up together.
“We went to the same schools, we danced together, we’ve known each other our whole lives. People called us twin cousins because we were so similar,” Duzynski smiled, recalling some of her favorite memories together.
Gina, born in Milwaukee, was 37 years old. She worked at Wisconsin Vision Associates, as well as Sports Page Barr as a part-time bartender.
Police say they were called to that bar off Wisconsin Street for reports of gunfire just after midnight on Feb 1.
Officers from the Elkhorn Police Department and deputies from the Walworth County Sheriff's Office said they found the couple dead inside the bar.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Paul Steinbergs, Emerson’s coworker, said.
Emerson was 33 years old and raised in Burlington. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse and was employed as a Meat Department Manager at the Mukwonago Metro Market.
“I feel like I’m going to go into work tomorrow morning and he’s going to be there,” Steinbergs shared. “He was such a good guy for something like this to happen to him. We all ask why. And we’ll never get the answer, unfortunately.”
As loved ones grieve, that question of ‘why’ is bringing the communities of Burlington and Elkhorn together.
“I didn’t know them personally, but my family did very well. The whole thing is beyond tragic and you want to be comforting the family. I think strength in numbers does just that,” Spencer Spiewak, a family friend of Emerson, shared.
As they said their final goodbyes, family and friends are leaning on each other to honor the couple they said should still be here today.
Police have identified a person of interest in connection to the shooting. TMJ4 reached out to the Walworth County District Attorney about charges but did not immediately hear back.
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