IN THE STREETS & ON THE WEB

Memorial Service For Woman Killed By A Lion In South Africa

Tears and joyful memories came in equal measure at the memorial service for the Rye woman killed by a lion in South Africa.

More than 100 people packed into the Graham Funeral Home in Rye Saturday to pay tribute to 29-year-old Katherine Chappell.

Chappell was described by her family and friends as a fearless, passionate and proud woman who chased her dreams around the globe.

“Everyone she met inspired her in some way,” said Kate’s oldest sister, Jen Chappell Ringwald. “She had a voracious appetite to learn, travel, meet people from other places, care for the weak, defend the innocent and help care for wildlife.”

Chappell was brutally killed while trying to take a photograph from a car when a lioness attacked her through an open window at a game preserve.

A fellow tourist captured the shocking seconds before Chappell was attacked in a terrifying photograph.

Chappell, who graduated from Hofstra University in 2008 with a degree in film production, worked as a visual effects editor on a number of films and TV shows.

Her credits included movies such as “The Secret Life of Walter Mittty,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” and “Divergent,” according to her IMDB.com profile.

Chappell worked for the past year with Canadian special effects company Scanline VFX in Vancouver where she was part of a team that won an Emmy for their work on HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

Friends said the outgoing movie buff’s passions included Tolkien novels, fencing, scuba diving and animals.

The kind-hearted adventure-seeker traveled to South Africa with the hope of making a movie about animal poaching, according to her family.

“She was loved by so many people,” Chappell’s boyfriend Grayson Hoare said at the service. “She was so very excited by this trip. She died doing something that she truly cared about. Once she made up her mind about something there was no arguing with her.”

The park where the mauling occurred, near Johannesburg, allows lions to roam free while tourists drive through the preserve. Park officials have said visitors are ordered to keep

South African media have reported that an Australian tourist was bitten by a lion earlier this year while driving through the park with his windows open and a teenager who tried to cut through the park on a bicycle was attacked by a cheetah.

The park official said the lioness would not be killed, but was kept away from tourists after the attack.

“She was a true artist. She was exceptionally proud of her achievements and was living her dream,” Ringwald said. “Her flaw? She never realized she was a 5-foot-2, 99-pound woman. She really felt like a 6-foot-5, 200-pound guy.”

That male lion lookin' at her …… Like I don't know what the f**k is up with this b!tch …..

All I'm saying is ….. we all watched enough National Geographic to know we're not predator we're prey ….. And if I was around some wild hungry lions ……. I'm rolling the window up at least …...