Those who knew Sarah knew her for her beautiful smile, happy personality, positive attitude, and her great enthusiasm.  Sarah was a junior here at Padua and, on January 24th, she left us to return to Heaven to be with our Lord.

Sarah attended Immaculate Conception School in Elkton, Maryland for kindergarten through eighth grade.  There, she participated in many activities including Math and Science Olympiad, youth choir, soccer, and track.  She was always very active and liked to participate.  “When she was little, she was quite a daredevil,” Mrs. Smith, her mother, reminisced.  “She was fearless.  She may have been nervous at times, but she never had any fears.  And she was a very brave girl, too. She never, ever let her epilepsy keep her from doing the things she loved.”

Since sixth grade, Sarah knew that Padua was the high school of her dreams.  She had just finished a soccer game and was at a team pizza party when she discovered there was an open house at Padua Academy.  Her father decided to take her, sweaty soccer uniform and all.  When she arrived home she told her mother that she loved Padua and it was the school for her. Even after her parents’ suggestion, she refused to shadow at any other schools.  Sure enough, Sarah was accepted into the Padua Class of 2013, of which she will be a part of forever.

At Padua, Sarah participated in many activities including Model UN and was chosen to be a Eucharistic minister.  She enjoyed the “Afternoon Movies” activity and one of her favorite classes was “Sci-Fi Lit.”  A dedicated student, Sarah excelled in her classes, but also loved to spend time volunteering in her community.  She volunteered many hours in her parish, Immaculate Conception, and was both a lector and cantor at mass.  Also, for the past three summers she volunteered her time at the Cub Scout Day Camp  where she would take care of children under six in the “Tot Lot.”  Sarah was a hard-working girl who loved to help others, even if that meant sacrificing her time for them.

A true “girly-girl,” Sarah was the princess of her family, which is only fitting since that is the meaning of her name.  In her free time, Sarah enjoyed listening to music, hanging out with her friends, reading, playing piano, and watching movies, especially one of her favorites, Harry Potter.

Sarah will be truly missed by the many of us that she touched here at Padua, but especially by her parents and brother, Sean.  Let us keep them in our prayers and ask Sarah to always remain our guardian angel.