Dear Source:
Katie McManus, the deceased, was an incredibly vibrant, funny, and compassionate woman. I had the pleasure of living with her and 4 of our closest friends for a year and will never forget the 4 years we spent together at college. Moving to St. John meant leaving behind her mother, recently diagnosed with a serious illness, her father, and her sister, with whom she was almost uncannily close.
Katie was a religion major at the University of Rochester and was honestly one of the most giving people I have ever met. Her sense of humor, her sharp wit, and her incredibly complex way of thinking made even sitting around watching tv an interesting experience, as she was always curious about some question one would in most cases never consider. All of us have missed Katie dearly since she left, but we let her go knowing that for the first time in her life she was ready to spread her wings and do something she really wanted to do.
I hope with all my heart that she found the love we bestowed upon her every chance we got in St. John and that the people she encountered there will remember her as fondly as we – the way 15 minutes after a conversation about how it's more embarrassing to trip when no ones around to laugh she fell off her bike to make us, the way she kept us up all night at times just contemplating life…She was an artist and a thinker and a beauty. I hope the people at her camp got to see the light inside her.
Raquella Hess
Maryland
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