In memoriam: Alexa Eplett

More than 400 people met at the Johnstown, Pa. Trinity Lutheran Church Saturday morning to… More than 400 people met at the Johnstown, Pa. Trinity Lutheran Church Saturday morning to remember Pitt student Alexa Marie Eplett, who was found dead last Tuesday in her Lothrop Hall dorm room after an apparent suicide at the age of 18.

As some affected by her loss comforted one another at the memorial service and funeral, others shared their memories of Alexa over the Web.

Born May 3, 1991, she “will truly be missed by everyone who knew her,” the Rev. Brian W. Armen, who conducted the service, said.

As part of the service, several close friends — as well as Alexa’s 21 year-old sister, Amanda — spoke briefly about Alexa.

Tearfully, Amanda said her sister was “quick-witted, enthusiastic and had a huge heart.”

Sobs sounded through the previously quiet audience as Amanda spoke.

Amanda said she remembered the day her younger sister was born. Her aunt took her to the hospital and asked if she would like to see her new sister. Amanda said she could not contain her excitement.

“She was the most beautiful person I ever saw,” Amanda said.

Amanda said the entire community felt their family’s loss.

“I don’t think there is anyone here who hasn’t cried this past week,” she said.

Amanda referenced a Facebook group — ”RIP Alexa Marie Eplett” — remembering her sister, and shared a few of the stories from the group.

“She was the best sister, best daughter, best cousin, best niece, best student and best friend that anyone could ask for,” she said.

Amanda Good, one of Alexa’s friends, stepped up to the altar after Amanda Eplett finished.

Fumbling around with her notes, Good said, “That was the way our friendship was. I was a mess, and she was there saying ‘It’s OK.’”

Alexa and Good attended Westmont Hilltop together from kindergarten through high school.

“I wasn’t that close with her at first, but I wanted to be,” she said. “Something about her personality made me want to be around her. Alexa never thought of others’ image of her, and she always stood up for her beliefs.”

Good and Alexa became closer friends throughout high school, before they graduated and attended separate colleges.

Good graduated with Alexa in 2009 and attends Penn State’s Altoona campus.

“Alexa and I always wanted to go to the same college,” Good said, “but that didn’t happen.”

The pair spoke at least once a week while in college, Good said.

“Every conversation that I had with her was funny and meaningful and special,” Good said. “People gravitated toward her.”

In grade school, Good invited Alexa and some other friends to her house for a sleepover. After “staying up way too late,” they all decided to sleep on different parts of a trampoline in Good’s backyard, Good said. When they woke up in the morning, all of them were using Alexa as a pillow.

“That’s the kind of person she was,” Good said. “She tried to make sure everyone was happy.”

At times during the service, the crying of the audience almost drowned out the soft-spoken friends at the altar. Alexa’s parents, Bryan and Cindy, and her siblings, Bryson and Amanda, sat in the front row with other members of the extended family.

More than 20 rows of pews filled with people behind them.

Armen said Alexa often volunteered her time with the church. She delivered gifts to residents at the Lutheran Home, an assisted living center in Johnstown, Pa.

She read at worship, volunteered with the church’s youth group and volunteered for annual events, like serving at its Thanksgiving dinner.

“If there was an opportunity to serve she was there with a smile,” Armen said.

Every time he saw her, she was “always with her friends and enjoying what she was involved in,” Armen said.

In high school, Alexa played soccer and ran track. She played varsity soccer throughout high school and captained the team her senior year.

In 2007, she made the Laurel Highlands All-Conference Women’s Soccer team for Westmont, Pa., which includes school districts from the Johnstown area.

Members from both the Westmont Hilltop High School boys’ and girls’ soccer teams attended the funeral, many of them in tears, others stone-faced.

Armen said the women on the soccer team were extremely close.

“Those girls, and her year especially, were a tight group of kids. They were always looking after one another,” Armen said.

Alexa also excelled in academics, graduating in the top 10 of her high school class.

Despite her school work, Alexa worked with Good at Numero Uno, a small Italian restaurant in Westmont, Pa., for more than one year.

Alexa worked there two or three nights per week as a waitress, server and sometimes a dishwasher, said restaurant co-owner Ivana Panebianco.

“She touched the heart of everyone who worked here. She was always very happy and easygoing,” Panebianco said.

While the Johnstown community worked to deal with her loss, others affected by Alexa’s death connected through the Internet.

An online guestbook on legacy.com featured more than 75 posts yesterday offering condolences and support to Alexa’s family.

More than 2,000 people became fans of the Facebook memorial group. Friends and peers posted more than 200 messages and stories on the page since Kira Hovanec, who graduated with Alexa, created it the day after her death.

Some Pitt students attended the funeral, more than a 90-minute drive from Pittsburgh.

Others expressed their condolences on the wall of “RIP Alexa Marie Eplett,” and some addressed Alexa herself.

Amanda Eplett read aloud a post from the group by Pitt sophomore Chris Gursky at the funeral. She said the posts, and the Facebook group showed how much of an impact Alexa had on people.

Gursky wrote a story about the first time he and Alexa met.

He wore a pair of fuzzy white slippers he bought as a joke. Many people made fun of them for being “girly,” but Alexa treated him differently.

“Instead of being just like everyone else and poking fun, you made a comment about how you thought they were OK because they were like walking on clouds,” Gursky wrote. “Don’t worry, I’ve got my slippers right here. I hope you find clouds to walk on, as well. After all, they are quite comfy.”