Sarah Rice and Greg Johnson were coming into their element as the parents of three children, according to friends who gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil and balloon sendoff to remember the west Bethlehem couple.

Rice, 39, and Johnson, 42, died Friday night from gunshot wounds in their home in what authorities have suggested was a murder-suicide.

Dozens of people, children and adults, placed votive candles on the steps and front porch of the home, a brick-and-siding twin near West Lehigh Avenue. The house has been closed for the police investigation, but holiday lights were lit inside, and garland hung from the top of a front-room window.

Alex Martinez of Allentown and Danielle Rau of Whitehall Township, who helped organize the vigil, said they have known the couple for years. Rice grew up in the area and was a Liberty High School student. Johnson came to the Valley from Brooklyn, New York, “for a change of scenery,” Martinez said. The couple met through a mutual friend, he said.

“It’s a very, very, very sad situation,” Martinez said.

Though they did not marry, Rice and Johnson lived together for years, according to those who knew them. Laurie Ann Rice, Sarah’s mother, was among members of the Rice and Johnson families who attended. She said she was unaware of any issues in recent weeks among the couple.

“They were fine,” she said. “I don’t know what happened. There are no words.”

Johnson family members declined to speak.

Rau said she was shocked by what happened.

“Every couple fights, but I would not have expected this,” she said. “They seemed like a very happy couple, taking care of their kids.”

In addition to remembering the couple, vigil organizers wanted to raise awareness of issues that feared might have led to their deaths — depression, mental illness, domestic violence.

Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio said Monday that autopsies completed on Rice and Johnson reveal both died from gunshot wounds to the head.

Buglio said the manner of their deaths remain pending until Bethlehem police and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office complete their investigation.

“This is a heartbreaking time, not just for the family but the entire community,” said Jeani Garcia, executive director of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley. “Today is the candle-lighting, but this family is going to need support throughout the months, the years to come.”

Johnson was employed as a warehouse supervisor near Quakertown. Rice worked at a convenience store in the 1100 block of West Broad Street, not far from the 10th Avenue home that Lehigh County property records show the couple bought in 2018.

Lisa Culver and Judy Duffy, both of west Bethlehem, said Rice was very sociable at her job. She would talk with them about children, about hiding presents for one of her children until her next birthday, and about cars.

“I still can’t get over it,” Culver said of the shootings. “It’s something that doesn’t happen around here.”

Savannah Marshall met Rice several years ago while lifeguarding at the West Side Pool on 13th Avenue. She came out with fellow lifeguards, lighted candles in their hands, to show support to the family, she said.

“She was a great mom from what we saw,” Marshall said. “The girls were well behaved and sweet to us. You could tell she just loved those girls more than anything in the world, and you could tell how much they loved her.”

Sunday night’s turnout “shows how much she impacted the community and affected everyone in a positive way,” Marshall said.

Rice and Johnson’s children have been placed in the care of family members, Bethlehem police said earlier.

An online fundraiser established to help the family had collected nearly $26,000 around midday Monday.

Contact Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone at asalamone@mcall.com.