ORANGE : Killer Turns Dream Into Funeral Dirge

With her final exams out of the way at Cal State Fullerton, Barbara Blakely had set aside some time next week to make serious wedding plans with her husband-to-be.

“We were going to sit down and nail things together,” said Blakely’s fiance, Frank LeForte, a chef at Pasta, Pasta in Corona.

But on Monday, LeForte, 38, was sitting down with Blakely’s family, making final arrangements for her funeral later this week at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Orange.

Blakely, a 27-year-old special education major, was fatally shot last Tuesday by her ex-boyfriend and former business partner, police say. She died after being taken off a life-support system at 7:45 a.m. Monday, her family said.

She had been in a coma in the intensive care unit at UCI Medical Center in Orange with two bullet wounds in the head. Her attacker, 47-year-old Fausto Grimaldi, killed himself seconds after shooting her execution-style, according to police.

On Monday, Blakely’s parents, her fiance and her best friend did not want to dwell on her failed relationship with Grimaldi, an Italian-born chef who apparently planned the murder-suicide weeks in advance.

Instead, they talked animatedly about Blakely’s busy life as a student dedicated to caring for mentally disabled people, and as a successful restaurant owner. And, despite juggling full-time schedules at work and school, her family and friends said, Blakely often found time to comfort and help those closest to her.

“She always took the time for me and had an incredible amount of patience,” said her best friend, Lisa Bradford, 27, with whom Blakely was living at the time of her death.

In November, when Bradford’s former roommate died of cancer, Blakely visited Bradford to cheer her up. “She took me to lunch and fed me,” Bradford recalled. “She took care of me when I needed her most.”

Blakely, who lived with her parents after her breakup with Grimaldi a year ago, moved in with Bradford two months ago. She had planned to stay there until her Aug. 17 wedding.

Blakely first attended Cal State Fullerton after graduating from Villa Park High School in 1981. But she left the university to pursue a career in food service, her family said.

Most recently, she was a waitress at Da Bianca Trattoria in Orange. Before that, she worked at other local restaurants, including Cafe Francais in Orange and the now-closed Bouzy Rouge in Newport Beach.

“She thought at one time that was her direction,” said John Blakely, her father. “She worked hard at it.”

After she met Grimaldi, the two traveled to New Orleans where they worked at V’s restaurant. When they returned, they opened Cosentino’s in Mission Viejo--named after Grimaldi’s Italian hometown of Cosenza. She ran the dining room operation while Grimaldi was responsible for the kitchen and menu.

Blakely and Grimaldi broke up last year after Blakely sold the small Italian restaurant. It was then that she began thinking about a career change, her father said.

Her mother, Marian, a therapist for the Placentia Unified School District, recalled that her daughter had taken a 22-year-old with Down’s syndrome under her wing. Through the relationship with him, she said, Blakely discovered that she had the ability to help mentally disabled people and was encouraged to become an aide with the Placentia Unified School District’s special education program.

Blakely started classes in January at Cal State Fullerton to finish her bachelor’s degree and obtain a teaching credential.

Her engagement and her school work set her on a new path in life, her family said. But Grimaldi apparently refused to give her up, becoming more and more obsessed with her.

“It’s frustrating to be a mental-health professional and to deal with it (the obsession) and not be able to change anything,” Marian Blakely said.

Services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday.