Courtesy Shields Weaver Sara McFlynn (COL ’04) flashes her signature smile. McFlynn died in Colorado of an abdominal infection on Aug. 8.

In her 20 years, Sara McFlynn’s (COL ’04) confidence, charisma and magnetism attracted more friends than most people make in a lifetime. Today, those who knew her best mourn the loss of a loyal friend whose sparkling, contagious laughter was cut unexpectedly short this summer.

McFlynn died at 11:25 p.m. on Aug. 8 of an abdominal infection complicated by her diabetes. She appeared fine when she went to bed on the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 7 but fell ill during the night and was rushed to Aspen Valley Hospital around 3:30 a.m. and then airlifted to Denver Children’s Hospital. The cause of the abdominal infection is unknown.

Sara’s friends and family recall her as a vibrant young woman whose passion for life was most clearly expressed in her unforgettable laughter. “You never felt better than when you made her laugh – she’d throw her head back, slap her knee and just let it all out,” roommate Kathleen Ralston (COL ’04) said. Sara’s brother, Tim McFlynn, Jr. (COL ’90), said his younger sister’s laugh attracted others to her. “She had a laugh you could recognize across a room and it was infectious . you wanted to spend more time with her. She really drew people to her,” he said. Her mischievous smile and penchant for jokes inspired laughter in everyone around her.

Sara, who loved to travel, had made a vast collection of friends across the country and in Europe.

“Every day we get letters from around the world, from people we never knew she knew. She had a powerful impact on people,” her father, Tim McFlynn, said.

Those who knew her well recall Sara’s steadfast dedication to her friends and family. “She was a loyal and amazing friend who would stick up for you in any situation, she’d never speak badly about you,” Charlie Andrews (COL ’04) said.

With a passion for all things fun, Sara had many loves and lived her life to the fullest. Shewas a natural athlete since her first swim team in kindergarten up until college. She was a star player on her soccer team at Aspen High School until she graduated in 2000. Growing up on her family’s Colorado ranch, Sara loved animals and the great outdoors. “She was very outdoorsy. More than that, she wanted to share it with other people and make them love it too,” Ralston said. From cliff diving and white water rafting to outings with her horse, Lakota, McFlynn was fearless and adventerous.

Though her passion for the natural beauty of Colorado was apparent, she was always excited to return to Georgetown. “She loved Colorado, her heart was in the west, but this was her school and she loved this place,” Andrews said.

During her freshman year in Harbin Hall, friends say McFlynn never seemed at a loss for words and would talk for hours in the dorm or while making frequent trips to the Leavey Center. “Almost every night freshman year Sara and I would walk to Vittles to see what they had, even though we already knew exactly what we were getting,” Andrews recalled with a laugh. McFlynn was also a favorite customer at Wisemiller’s. “When most people would go to the fridge, Sara would go to Wisey’s. She made friends with all the people that worked there. If we went to The Tombs, she’d stop in on the way there and on the way home,” friend and roommate Shields Weaver (COL ’04) remembered.

Sara’s friends and family were the center of her world. “She loved her family so much she made us feel like we were friends with them, too,” Vanessa Wattles (SFS ’04) said, recalling the many stories Sara would tell about her father Tim, mother Donna and four older siblings – Jane, Tim Jr., Travis and Abigael. Sara’s father remembers a favorite saying of his daughter’s: “Say my glory was I had such friends,” a quote from the epitaph of the German philosopher Goethe.

“It really applied to her, it was so fitting in her life. They were the most important thing to her, not her career or awards, her success or her ego – her friends,” he said.

McFlynn was a psychology major with a minor in English Literature who loved Georgetown’s social life and academic opportunities. “She was a bright, energetic student,” Sara’s Problem of God professor, Terrence Reynolds, said. cFlynn spent several weeks studying Shakespeare at Oxford University this past summer and planned to study abroad in Prague this spring.

Friends say McFlynn impressed her professors with her debate skills and strong opinions. Though she was small, standing just 5-foot-2, she was tough, and she often surprised people with her steadfast arguments and outspoken, sassy ways. “It never bothered her to be different or to stand up for what she believed in,” Ralston said.

“When we were growing up, Sara wanted to be a lawyer – she was fundamentally very compassionate, but also fiercely determined and argumentative. She sometimes tied, but rarely lost her battles,” her brother Tim said. Though her career plans weren’t set in stone, those who knew her well saw her heading toward a career where she could put that compassion to use. “Whatever she was going to do, she was going to help people,” Weaver said. “She was more interested in enjoying her job than making a lot of money.”

Tim McFlynn, Sr., said thousands of dollars have already been donated toward a Georgetown scholarship in Sara’s name in conjunction with the university, though the details have not yet been finalized.

A memorial service at Georgetown in Sara’s memory is scheduled for Sept. 7 in Dahlgren Chapel. Though the time and details are still in the works, interim University Chaplain Scott Pilarz, S.J., and the Office of Campus Ministry hope the event will help her friends and classmates heal. “When you tell the story of her life and her death, you reconnect with her,” assistant to Pilarz and a coordinator of the service Susan Buckingham said. “It’s devastating to lose someone so young . we want to do everything we can.”

The McFlynn family held a memorial service for Sara at their ranch in Snowmass, Colo., on Aug. 16. On the warm summer day, more than 500 of her friends, family and neighbors, including 11 of her friends from Georgetown, gathered in an outdoor amphitheater to share their memories of the fun-loving, energetic young woman whose short but vibrant life had touched them all. “The celebration was exactly as Sara would have wanted it,” her brother, Tim, Jr., said.