By Sarah Levin
Features Editor

During a memorial service for Annie Seamans ’02 Sunday, members of the Wesleyan community gathered to reflect on the life of a young woman they remembered as compassionate and generous.

Seamans, who was taking a leave of absence this semester, was killed in an automobile accident in her hometown of Pittsburgh, Penn., on Oct. 21.

"It’s a horrible thing when a young person dies. But there is also a lot to affirm," said Charles Lemert, professor of sociology, who spoke at the service.

"It’s not how long you live, but what you do while you’re alive," Lemert said. "I think that Annie probably lived more in her 20 years than a lot of people who live into their 80s."

Prior to the start of the ceremony, Seamans’s favorite music was played in the Memorial Chapel. During the service, several students and faculty members spoke of Seamans’s unsurpassed devotion to her friends and schoolwork.

"She didn’t hold back," said Emily Isaacs ’02. "She was familiar and warm with people as soon as she met them."

Lemert, who taught a class that Seamans took last spring, recalled an email that she had written him during the semester about the material she was learning.

"The email was sent at 3:40 a.m.," Lemert said. "She was saying she just loved this stuff and couldn’t get it out of her head, that she was just living it. She had that kind of quality in everything she did."

After several readings and reflections, Lily Sutton ’02 played a violin piece, which was followed by candle-lighting. A reception was held after the service at the Eclectic house, where Seamans lived in the beginning of the semester.

Isaacs remembered Seamans’s passion for the arts, such as dancing and film, and her creativity.

"Her room was amazing," she said. "She had all these collages and mobiles she had made hanging from her light."

During the service, Isaacs recalled an experience she shared with Seamans just as they were becoming friends.

"One of the first times I hung out in her room, I saw the picture book ‘Beauty and the Beast’ on her shelf," she said. "I had the same book here. And who brings picture books to college? It was just one of those little coincidences that makes you feel really good."

"She had this beautiful head of hair, but she just decided to cut it all off one day," Lemert said. "I see that all the time, but it was not a random rebellion. She said she really wanted to see what she felt like being the plainest, most unadorned person. That was really striking to me."

"Annie was true Wes," said Freddye Hill, dean of the college. "Inquisitive, engaging, fiercely committed to learning. And she had a commitment to relationships, which she spent a lot of time developing."

Protestant Chaplain Gary Comstock stressed the importance of grieving, but also said that grieving alone "really ignores what Annie was all about."

"The grief has to be balanced by remembering how important she was to each person," he said. "When you have both the expressions of grief and the celebration of life, then you begin to have healing."