Honor Mariam Gesler - Zoo Memorial

My name is Danette Gesler. This beautiful young girl was my daughter. She was found unresponsive right after her 24th birthday. We still do not know what happened.

To honor her, we are having her memorial at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For her 17th birthday, the only thing she wanted was a zoo membership. She graduated a year early from high school and attended the Honors College at Michigan State University where she studied animal sciences.

You can tell a lot about a person’s heart by the way they treat animals, and Mari’s love and compassion made room for anything that creeped, crawled, walked, or flew. Mari had a way of connecting with anyone she met. She would light up a room with her smile and giggle, and just her presence made everyone feel loved. Mari had a great positive attitude, always seeing the roses among the thorns. She will always be her daddy’s Goofy and our little Mari Sunshine.

Please help us honor her by donating the zoo entrance fees so that everyone that comes to be with us that day can enjoy her favorite part of the zoo - all of it.