Not one seat was left empty in the conference room of 73 Tremont for Isabella Gozzo’s memorial service. In the room decorated with brightly colored daisies, Gozzo’s favorite flower, peers were able to comfort each other as they shared memories and celebrated her life.
“Whether you’re a friend from the 150 Tremont residence hall, a parent, a classmate, or a member of the faculty and administration … we are gathered as a community,” said Reverend Amy Fisher.
About 70 people filled rows of chairs, and some wore pins made by residents of the fifth floor of 150 Tremont.
“In this room, we have a large and diverse community. This is a powerful indicator of how many people cherished Izzy,” said Dean Ann Coyne, who also attended the memorial.
Followed by a moment of silence, students at Suffolk who were close to Gozzo shared their most profound thoughts and memories by standing in front of the seated crowd.
Gozzo died in a car accident in Berlin, Connecticut in December. She was a freshman and communication and journalism major.
Freshmen Ashleigh Roebuck and Holly Driscoll read two poems that described their friendship with Gozzo.
“It is impossible to put into words how much Isabella meant to us,” Driscoll said to her peers before reading the poem.
The audience sat and listened, many with tears in their eyes.
“I was sad to see her go, but she had touched my heart in such a way that I knew my life would never be the same,” a line in a poem read.
Gozzo’s mother, Yeisid, recalled when her daughter attended a soccer camp when she was younger. Gozzo won the superlative of “most vocal,” and her mother described her as a person who did a lot of living in 19 years.
Freshman Jonathan McTague only knew Gozzo for a semester, but said she made a lasting impact on his life.
“Coming into Suffolk I knew I was going to meet people that would change my life completely. On day one, I met Isabella. We grew close as we became known as ‘the squad,’” he said.
In conjunction with the Interfaith Center, McTague met with Reverend Fisher nearly every Friday this semester to organize the memorial.
At the service, freshman Ben Pompilus performed two upbeat rap songs, thick with lyrics and emotion. One was titled “Flower Child,” reminiscent of Gozzo’s spirit and the flowered headbands that would often adorn her head. The other was titled “Buy a Heart.”
“While I was writing them, there wasn’t really anything to think about, it just came naturally,” he said. “She turned out to be a more important person to me than I ever thought she would be.”
Although she only knew Gozzo for a few months, freshman Kailynn Abrams recalled a memory that often comes to mind when thinking of her friend.
“When I met Bella, I thought of Sundays as the horrible day before the week starts,” she said, adding that Gozzo saw the light in Sundays because of her love for football.
Cassidy Geisler, who met Gozzo in math class, knew of her passion for the sport all too well.
“On football Sundays we would always move the couches together in our common room and my roommates would be like, ‘Hey, is Isabella coming?’ and would shut their doors because she would be screaming at the TV” while the games were on, Geisler said.
Abrams made a video for the memorial that showed Gozzo with friends and family, smiling in almost every picture.
“Isabella showed me what a true friendship really was, and for that I will always be thankful,” Abrams said.
Freshman Sara Maloney bought a floral printed skirt for the memorial in honor to Gozzo who loved flowers, saying it is the little tributes that should be cherished.
“I’m a spiritual person, and there’s something about the energy that Isabella had. That’s pretty clear today because most of us only knew her for a few months and we’re all here consumed by this extreme passion and love,” Maloney said. “That’s not something many people can leave behind.”
