Beverly Whipple remembered her mentor, friend and colleague Monday as a "a rare and generous man, and one of a kind."

Dr. George Tiller, who was gunned down in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday morning, was someone she had known for about 25 years. She said she met Tiller at a meeting of the National Abortion Federation and considered him a confidant.

"Losing Dr. George Tiller is beyond tragic; it is devastating for America. He was truly a great civil rights leader," said Whipple, executive director of Yakima's Cedar River Clinic, one of two local clinics that provide abortions.

"For at least 25 years, I have admired George and considered him my friend and colleague," she said.

A vigil for the slain doctor was held in downtown Yakima Monday night.

Organized by staff at Yakima's Cedar River Clinic, the event was held at Millennium Arts Plaza on South Third Street across from the Capitol Theatre.

About 20 people, mostly women, attended the event.

Yakima resident Mary Milam said she decided to come because Tiller's death represents a "brutal, senseless act of terrorism."

She made a sign that said, "Killing doctors is not pro-life."

Milam said she thought Tiller's death added to growing divisiveness in the national debate between fundamentalist opponents and advocates for women's health.

"We need to get it back to responsible reproductive health for all women," she said.

Organizers said they were happy with the turnout. They attributed the small crowd to late notice that the event was taking place, although they acknowledged the stigma sometimes associated with abortion.

Absent from the gathering were local abortion opponents, some of whom denounced Tiller's killing while also calling for a renewed national debate on abortion.

The Most Rev. Carlos A. Sevilla, Bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, encouraged Catholics to pray for Tiller and his family, and to have "a greater respect for all human life, from conception to natural death."

Tiller, one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions, was serving as an usher during a morning worship service Sunday when he was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita.

The slaying spurred condemnation from both anti-abortion and abortion-rights groups, as well as President Barack Obama.

In Yakima, it prompted members of the abortion rights community to condemn Tiller's killing -- and to assert support for reproductive rights.

"Reproductive freedom is our reason for being," said Joan Schrammeck, development and communications director for the nonprofit Cedar River Clinics.

Located in Yakima, Tacoma and Renton, Wash., the clinics specialize in women's reproductive health care, offering abortion, birth control, contraception, gynecological care, and free walk-in pregnancy tests. Together, they serve more than 7,000 women a year.

"Dr. Tiller's murder is intended as a threat to everyone who supports abortion access," she said, adding, "Safety is always a concern. ... we have had death threats by telephone, bomb threats, and vandalism. Fortunately, no assaults have happened in 2009, that I am aware of, but there have been picketers."

The Yakima clinic provides approximately 1,000 to 1,200 abortions per year, according to Schrammeck.

Planned Parenthood of Central Washington in Yakima also provides abortions. A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

Whipple, a board member of the National Abortion Federation, said the murder of abortion providers should be viewed as an act of terrorism. "Our nation -- our president -- need to respond like it is terrorism," she said in a statement.

A flier advertising Monday's Yakima vigil featured a 2002 quote from Tiller, which reads: "I chose to become an abortion doctor because abortion is the single greatest issue of civil rights and personal freedom for women. "Similar vigils were taking place in Seattle and cities across the country.

"It's for mutual support. It's because we cannot do nothing. We can not be silent. We must stand up for women's human rights. And we want to be together," said Schrammeck, who had known Tiller more than 10 years.

"I'm horrified and deeply upset," she said. "Dr. Tiller was a hero, not just to women in his clinic, but to women all across America."

Sevilla called Tiller's killing "deplorable" and extended his sympathies to the doctor's family.

"It is doubly tragic that this unlawful act of violence happened at a church, which should be a place where all feel welcome and secure as they strive to draw closer to God," he said in a statement.

The bishop said he welcomes President Obama's recent invitation "to further national dialogue on the issue of abortion, which has claimed nearly 50 million innocent human lives since 1973."

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Roe v. Wade, establishing a woman's constitutional right to obtain an abortion.

"I think, from an evangelical perspective, the scripture's very clear about taking the life of another human being," said the Rev. Ken Parsely, senior pastor at Yakima' Church on the Move.

"The scripture certainly doesn't condone the taking of the life of another human being by murder," Parsely said. "But that also extends to the unborn."

Life Choices of Yakima advocates alternatives to abortion.

"We believe in the sacredness of life from conception until natural death," said Lenette Lindemann, the interim transition director of the Life Choices clinic. "We are opposed to all acts of violence that destroy innocent human life and affirm that violence is never the answer to resolve differing opinions on abortion."

Still, "All of us at Life Choices of Yakima are shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of Dr. George Tiller," Lindemann said. "We lift up prayers for his widow, children and church family."

This week, an American flag that was once posted at Tiller's Wichita clinic will be flown above Yakima's Cedar River Clinic.

It was given to Whipple, co-founder and executive director of Feminist Women's Health Center, which operates the Cedar River Clinics, two years ago during a time when Tiller's clinic was regularly visited by protesters.

In the summer of 2007, Whipple said, Tiller flew a new flag above his clinic each day and offered the flags to organizations "so that we could be a part of his effort."

We fly this flag all week as a testament to his commitment to freedom."

* Reporter Mark Morey contributed to this report.