Passionate, Always Smiling: Loved Ones Remember Mom, Son Killed In Western Mass Murder-Suicide

Driven and walking: That's how family and friends remembered Dylan and Sima Pariseau, the mother and son killed in a murder-suicide in Hampden County earlier this month.

Sima's longtime partner, Peter Donaldson, is believed to have shot and killed the two in the basement of their home in Wilbraham home on June 16 before turning the gun on himself, the Hampden District Attorney's Office has said.

• Related: Police Release Details, IDs In Wilbraham Murder-Suicide

Obituaries for the Pariseaus paint the picture of a passionate young man at the beginning of a promising career and a devoted mother with a perpetual smile and open heart.

Dylan, age 27, was a 2015 Minnechaug Regional High School graduate, who loved his family, friends, and all things Boston sports, his obituary said .

"Dylan had an innate talent to become the best of friends with anyone who crossed his path, something his sister and many others admired him for, among many other things," it reads.

That empathy and his curious mind led him to study biology at Keene State College in New Hampshire, and his academic talents landed him coveted jobs in the pharmaceutical industry after graduating in 2019. He last worked as a senior research assistant at Verve Therapeutics.

Sima, age 56, passed on her sensitivity and compassion to her son, her obituary said .

The happiness of others was Sima's main goal in life, even more so for her children and her parents. Sima was a loyal mother and daughter, a solid rock to her friends, and never hesitated to put everyone before herself.

The lifelong Wilbraham resident was also a Minnechaug Regional High School graduate and worked in the medical field. Sima was a longtime Baystate Medical Center employee and coding specialist at Massachusetts General Brigham Hospital, the obituary said.

She was easily recognized for her big smile and bigger heart, her family said. She was known in Wilbraham as "the town walker" because of her love of walking up and down Main Street to grab an ice cream at Rice's Fruit Farm or run an errand.

Sima leaves behind a daughter.

A visitation is scheduled for Dylan and Sima Pariseau from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 26, at St. Cecilia Church at 42 Main St. in Wilbraham. Their funeral is set for Thursday at 11 a.m. at the church.