‘She was the happiest she’d ever been.’ Friends, family mourn tragic loss in Bellingham
It’s her smile in the photos that catches your attention, the sparkle in her eyes, the joy of her expression — a mix of serenity and wisdom seldom seen in teenagers.
Lucy Guerra loved dance and art, studied piano, played tennis and rode horses, enjoyed conversation, adored sunflowers, dove into cooking and baking, sewing and knitting, and also nurtured a deep and abiding appreciation for nature.
“Lucy loved rain, which she called ‘fresh weather,’ so maybe in our next drizzle, know that it is kisses from Lucy,” her mother Amy Guerra wrote in her daughter’s online obituary.
Lucy lived a lifetime in just 15 years, friends and family members told The Bellingham Herald in interviews and emails after her May 30 death in a train accident.
“As much as this is horrific that Lucy is gone, she was the happiest she’d ever been. She had found her people and she had found herself,” said Jen Reidel, a neighbor whose daughter had been a friend of Lucy’s since elementary school.
“That gives me a lot of solace because there are a lot of adults who can’t say that about their lives. For her to pack all that in, fast and furious, is pretty admirable,” she said.
Hundreds sat on the lawn at Elizabeth Park near Lucy’s home in the Columbia neighborhood for a vigil on the Sunday after the accident, and those who were there said that its vibe was more like one of the park’s cherished summer concerts around the gazebo decorated with sunflowers.
Students used sunflowers to decorate a stairwell at Bellingham High, where a celebration of Lucy’s life is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, June 25.
“I’m so thankful that she was happy,” Amy Guerra told The Herald in an interview.
Police said Lucy and a friend were walking on a railroad trestle above Squalicum Beach when Guerra was hit by a BNSF freight train about 5:10 p.m. “The initial investigation is looking like it was a tragic accident. We don’t suspect foul play and we don’t believe it was intentional,” said Investigations Lt. Chad Cristelli of the Bellingham Police Department.
Love of nature
Lucy was a “bright, wonderful, kind, generous person,” said Casey Cook, director of the Marine Life Center at the Port of Bellingham.
“She was a special kid. We would spend a lot of time at the touch tank (for tide pool creatures) just talking about the animals,” Cook said.
Lucy often would donate her birthday money to the center and ask her fiends to donate too, in lieu of presents, Cook said.
“It was the sweetest thing. It really breaks my heart,” she said.
Walking in the rain
Reidel’s daughter Claire Reidel wrote The Herald to share stories about her friend.
“One of my favorite memories of Lucy was one Sunday when we decided to hang out and walk around the neighborhood. It started pouring rain about halfway through our walk and I offered to call to get a ride home but Lucy wanted to keep going, as she loved the rain so much,” Claire Reidel said.
Once they rode the bus downtown, where they stopped for ice cream at Mallard’s and each girl bought a quart, not thinking about the actual size of the container.
“We started eating the ice cream and realized that we wouldn’t be able to finish it but we still had the whole day ahead of us, so we decided to keep walking around and going into stores while holding our ice cream containers. By the end of the day all of the ice cream had melted, so we decided to drink it out of the containers so we didn’t have to carry it home, I’m sure we looked so stupid doing that but neither of us cared at all,” she said.
A new boyfriend
Last fall, Lucy started seeing Cam Pomerinke, who wrote a tribute at her online obituary, which The Herald is using with permission.
“She has the ability to light up a room and put a smile on everyone’s face,” Pomerinke said.
“She made me feel special, she made me feel like she was there for me, and most of all, she made me feel loved,” he said.
Pomerinke’s dad wrote a message, too, along with dozens of others.
“What a blessing Lucy was to our lives!” Joel Pomerinke said.
“We miss her more than words can express. I look forward to the next rain to get some ‘fresh weather’ and kisses for all her family and friends,” he said.
A lasting memorial
Family friend Aaron Booker started a GoFundMe page to help Lucy’s parents create a “lasting memorial’ to their daughter.
It had raised more than $41,000 by Friday, what would have been Lucy’s last day as a freshman at Bellingham High School.
Booker told The Herald that many of the donations were small ones from Lucy’s friends, and many of them left messages at the fundraising website.
Guerra said the family would take its time to decide how to honor their daughter’s life.
“Her radiance invasively found every bit of dark or gray and gently poured over it, pooled in it, soothed. She reflected and amplified every ounce of good from every person she met. She will be so, so deeply missed,” Guerra wrote in Lucy’s obituary.
Meanwhile, Reidel urged Lucy’s friends, family and others to remember Lucy as the girl who lived — and not the girl who died.
“She was the happiest she’d ever been. I don’t think it gets much better than that,” Reidel said.
