BUFFALO, N.Y. — Katherine Massey, known to people as Kat, was one of the victims who lost their lives in the mass shooting at a Buffalo Tops store.

All of them are being remembered as we reach the first anniversary of the tragedy.

Community activist Betty Jean Grant was part of the advocacy group We Are Women Warriors along with Massey. Grant spoke with Spectrum News 1 about what she thought of when she saw a picture of her dear friend.

"When I look at this picture what goes through my head is that we lost a legacy," said Grant. "We lost a legend. We lost a part of this community that can never be replaced. And we are going to make sure that Kat Massey's legacy is remembered."

Grant says Massey's life is an inspiration to those who knew her and to those who will know her. She first met Massey in the 1990s while Grant was a former Erie County legislator and a member of Buffalo Common Council. She says Massey had come to city hall to address issues occurring in Buffalo's Fruit Belt community. 

"It says to me, even in the 90s, when she didn't have a group behind her, she was more or less a one-woman show," said Grant. "That she knew the importance of one making a difference, that one person could make a difference in this community. And that's what we all say, we all say 'oh it takes one person,' but actually, Kat Massey showed us that sometimes it does take one person."

That's not all Massey did. Grant says she and Kat had met with others when there was unrest after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in 2012 and the group came up with the idea to create a group to reassure mothers who were concerned about violence in the community. Now that group is called We Are Women Warriors. 

Grant says Kat also advocated against gun violence. She says that's why it makes sense that Trailblazer signs were dedicated to Kat Massey Way. The signs were unveiled in July and are on Cherry Street, from Mortimer Street to Jefferson Avenue and Virginia Streets in Buffalo. It was a place she and her family took care of, something Grant says they still do today.

"So that's why I said Kat's legacy continues because then we have people who are doing what she would have done if she had been here and I'm just so proud that I was able to work with councilmember Darius Pridgen to name their street I think less than a month from the time the massacre started," said Grant. "We had her name on those street signs and that's really a legacy to have, how loved she was."

Grant says it's important to remember all of the victims who were murdered, injured or impacted by the mass shooting. She says she'd like to see the sense of community and support that arose after May 14 from people in Buffalo and beyond, continue. She says she wants to see the attention given to Jefferson Avenue immediately after the massacre continue. Looking at the grocery store almost one year later, she says it brings about a sense of sadness. 

"[There is] a sense of loss, a sense of hope and a sense of redemption," Grant said.