Victoria: Celebrate her Life & Support her Family

THE CONTEXT:

Victoria Stilwell -- our daughter, fiancé, sister, cousin, aunt, niece, colleague & friend -- was tragically taken from us far, far too early. She passed away on May 15th at 27 years old after a two month battle with an extremely rare autoimmune syndrome followed by an equally rare, very aggressive infection. Emerging seemingly out of nowhere, these diagnoses left us all disoriented, stunned & reeling -- but Victoria faced everything with the utmost courage, strength and resolve. Today, our hearts are broken.

However, as we reflect on Victoria and her life, it's not the dark and hard times that we remember most. She was a complete ray of light, an endless source of laughter & joy, and the true embodiment of love. She deeply cared about her family & friends, and we all have so many memories of her kindness, her playfulness, her ability to show up for us when we needed it most, and her perpetual ability to light up a room and bring joy to all the people in it.

Victoria gave us so much. And now, we are honored to come together as her community to provide support for her upcoming celebration of life and to all the immediate family members whose lives have been forever upended.

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HOW TO SUPPORT:

1) DONATE - Victoria's family has been incurring significant expenses while caring for Victoria (medical bills, missed work hours, lodging/food costs, etc.) over the last several months, and now face the substantial costs of funeral services and hosting a celebration of life. Anything you are able to contribute (small or large) will be greatly appreciated by the family and go toward paying for Victoria's funeral services & celebration of life, associated costs through her illness, and helping the immediate family get back on their feet after such a life-altering tragedy. If you are able to share this gofundme with others in your network who also knew and loved Victoria, that would also be supportive. Victoria's sister (Kasey Hale) will be stewarding the funds.

2) SUBMIT FAVORITE PHOTOS - The family will be preparing a slideshow of favorite pictures/memories for Victoria's Celebration of Life. Please email or text any of your favorite Victoria photos to Victoria's brother, Kurt Stilwell at (kurtjstilwell at icloud.com).

This is an unthinkably tragic event, one we will never fully recover from -- but knowing we have a community here to provide support and love for our family provides us all with so much solace. Thank you for being there for us ❤️.

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FUNERAL SERVICES + CELEBRATION OF LIFE INFORMATION:

The family would like to welcome all those who loved Victoria to the following events to honor and celebrate her life:

Victoria's Obituary can be found here.