Hillsdale College announced it will hold a memorial service on an undetermined date in the near future for Emerson “Emmy” Sigtryggsson, a junior who died at the age of 20 on Sept. 8 after a brief battle with sarcoma, a form of cancer.
“Emmy was a devoted faith-filled Christian; strong in God’s love, his strength, and his mercy which she freely shared with everyone, especially those in need,” according to an obituary from the Stamford Advocate, a newspaper in Connecticut, where she attended high school. “She made it her mission to let everyone know they mattered. She cherished teaching special needs children to be bold as well as spending time with elders. . . . She was a blessing to all who knew her.”
Two services in Virginia will honor her memory. The family will receive friends during visiting hours on Sunday, Sept. 22, at the McCoy Funeral Home in Blacksburg. Her funeral will be at the Good Shepherd Baptist Church in nearby Christianburg on Monday, Sept. 23, at 11 a.m.
Details for the college service are expected after her funeral.
“Emmy’s death at such a young age is a tragedy beyond words. There is little value in trying to make sense of this,” College Chaplain Rev. Adam Rick said. “All we can say for sure is that death is not the way it’s supposed to be. God made us for life, not death. Thanks be to God that he did not leave us in the grips of the grave, but sent his son Jesus to feel the bite of death and to take it away from us forever, that we might live with him.”
Sigtryggsson was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and was studying physics. She also served as the youth director at Jonesville First Presbyterian Church.
At Stamford High School, Sigtryggsson was the varsity swim team captain, captain of the mock trial team, and a member of the debate team.
Sigtryggsson is survived by her parents, Krissie (Lindstrom) and Hal Sigtryggsson, her three sisters – Spencer, Peyton and Elliott – and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
The college’s free spiritual support resources and counseling services are always available, said Rick, who added that he is eager to pray and listen to whoever needs that support in their grief.
“Above all, I am here to remind us all of God’s good will for us in Jesus to save us from sin and death, that we might reign with him forever,” Rick said. “Emmy had faith in Jesus, and we can be sure, on the basis of his loving goodness to us, that she is at rest in him, and she will be raised on the last great day to sing his praises with all who share her faith.”
Director of Health and Wellness Brock Lutz said students struggling with the loss in any capacity should heal and grieve together by talking to friends, a counselor, a pastor or priest, or any trusted individual.
“There is the obvious grief that comes from being close to someone and then losing him or her, and that grief certainly gets more complicated when it is a person that is so young and so unexpected,” Lutz said. “Even someone who did not know Emmy very well can be hit with a kind of existential grief because this kind of loss does, and it should, confront our own mortality and make us aware of the fragility of life.”
Many of the women of Pi Beta Phi will travel to Virginia this weekend to attend the memorial service.
“Pi Phi mourns the loss of Emmy, and she will be greatly missed,” Pi Beta Phi President Maggie Carriker said.