Friends and past professors shed tears and shared memories on Wednesday evening of the late Britny Kabic at a memorial service dedicated to her.

A couple hundred Syracuse University community members gathered inside Hendricks Chapel for the service, which lasted about 30 minutes for Kabic, who died in Walnut Hall on Feb. 13. Kabic was a sophomore advertising major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Those who spoke at the service included advertising professors Beth Egan and Ed Russell, three of Kabic’s sorority sisters in Delta Delta Delta and two of her closest friends, Collin Brown and Lani Kineret. Others read poems and the a capella group Groovestand sang a song in remembrance of Kabic.

Russell told a story about Kabic’s parents visiting campus shortly after she died for a meeting with him and SU officials including Chancellor Kent Syverud and Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham. Before her parents arrived, Russell said he “didn’t have a clue” what he was going to say to them.

But when they arrived, Kabic’s parents began sharing story after story about her — from memories of her childhood to the moment she was accepted into Newhouse.

“We didn’t have to say anything,” Russell said. “We just sat there and listened. … The dean’s conference room was filled with love. That doesn’t happen often in the dean’s conference room. It was an amazing, amazing experience.”

Later, three of Kabic’s floormates from last year read a poem titled “She is Gone.” One of Kabic’s sorority sisters read another poem and two others shared some of their fondest memories of Kabic.

Toward the end of the service, Kineret shared the story of the first time she met Kabic. It was in the fall semester of 2014, and they were at their first floor meeting of the year on the 20th floor of Lawrinson Hall.

The floor’s residential adviser had all of the residents participate in an ice-breaker game in which each person was asked to come up with an adjective that began with the first letter of his or her first name.

Kabic stood in the corner of the room, her arms crossed, and said, “Brave Britny” in a soft voice, Kineret said.

“I thought to myself, ‘That’s pretty ironic because that girl is terrified,’” Kineret said. “But she certainly proved me wrong, because she was one of the bravest people I knew.”

Kineret and Kabic quickly became close friends, Kineret said. Kabic, who was from outside of Philadelphia, taught Kineret about Philadelphia sports teams, bowling and the home exercise regimen P90X, among other things.

“But most importantly, she taught me about love,” Kineret said.

Standing next to Kineret as she spoke was Brown, another of Kabic’s closest friends.

Brown spoke glowingly of Kabic, saying that she had “an infectious joy” and that there was never a time when Kabic failed to brighten his day.

“On beautiful days like today, I know that Britny is behind all the sunshine, here for all of us and reminding us how to find the joy around us,” Brown said.

Published on April 20, 2016 at 10:11 pm

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu