Friends remember 'beautiful,' 'humble' girl

When College sophomore Anne Ryan died from meningitis last Sunday, she left behind a legacy as a model of two kinds.

First, as a girl whose striking beauty didn't stop at the surface, and second, as a scholar whose passions for learning and life made her an ideal student, her friends at Penn say.

And former classmates from Mercyhurst Preperatory School in Ryan's hometown of Erie, Pa., remember a girl who served as a role model for the younger girls on the basketball team and an inspiration to all who knew her.

"She's really magical," said Deslie Hamersky, a College sophomore and Ryan's best friend. "She has this way with people where it doesn't take long for her to imprint on people's hearts. You can have one conversation or she can just look at you one time and you're just sucked in."

Ryan was known for her curiosity about the world and her magnetic personality.

"I admired her in a way that I've never admired anyone else," said Katie Kooser, a junior at Ryan's high school.

"She was smart, so we respected her; she was kind, so you looked up to her; she was funny, so you enjoyed her company; and she was very down to earth, so you loved her and wanted to be around her," Kooser said.

Friends describe Ryan as mature beyond her years, with a sophisticated intensity that drew others in.

"She had really specific and mature tastes in things," said College sophomore and roommate Ben Greenberg. "She wanted to cut through the crap of life and get to the really great stuff. It reflected everywhere."

Her interests were diverse and plenty: She loved Harry Potter, America's Next Top Model, Facebook, animals - except for snakes - exotic teas, the French horn, fashion, the environment, Arabic and Locust Walk, just to name a few.

"She would always come back from Arabic class so happy," Hamersky said. "She would always get upset when she couldn't go."

"She always wanted to understand people that we didn't understand" - one of the reasons she was so fascinated by Arabic, said Missy Rupp, Ryan's high-school best friend and a sophomore at Penn State University.

Ryan was planning on majoring in environmental science and hoped to one day become a veterinarian, Hamersky said.

Classmates also pointed out her strong intelligence and quick wit, offset by her humble nature and ability to make fun of herself with ease.

"It was almost like playing ping pong when you'd talk to her. You'd throw something, and she's hit it right back." College sophomore Cameron Clark said.

Back in high school, Ryan Slaney, a sophomore at Notre Dame University, enjoyed debating with Ryan in their senior year ethics class because "she was passionate about everything and went 100 percent all the time."

Ryan's work for Penn's The Walk magazine and fashion society Dzine2Show was notable, too, as she took on modeling responsibilities uncommon for her then-freshman status.

"She let us do everything, from covering her with flour to painting - and then painfully peeling off - latex body paint, without complaining once and always with a smile on her face." said College junior Irene Yoo, The Walk's photography director.

College junior and fellow model Adam El-Sehamy added, "Usually with women as beautiful as Anne, there's an aura about them as if they know how pretty they are and that you know it too - Anne never had that aura."

"What she did have was a beautiful smile that reflected how beautiful she was on the inside," El-Sehamy said. "It was the kind of smile that lit up the room."

Above all, Ryan will be remembered for her uncanny ability to touch the lives of everyone that she met, easily seen by the hundreds of friends who gathered in her memory for a vigil the night that she died.

"Who can honestly touch 300 people other than Anne Ryan?" Hamersky said.

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