Sara Kloepfer
Managing Editor

Students, teachers, family and friends gathered in the Chapel Oct. 20 to celebrate the life of Ariana Riordan (’08) with a memorial Mass. Riordan, 20, died Oct. 3 due to complications from cystic fibrosis. Her lifelong battle with the disease kept her home from school most days in her senior year, but did not stop her from becoming an accomplished student and active member of the Sacred Heart community.

English department chair Karen Randall opened the Mass by reading Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” a poem Riordan studied in Randall’s junior year English class. Present Convent students led the processional, while the congregation, accompanied by a choir of faculty, sang “Amazing Grace.”
Student Life Coordinator Celine Curran spoke about meeting Riordan at age eight and how “she will always be known as a girl essential to the Sacred Heart community.”

Members of the San Anselmo Police Department Explorer Post spoke of Ari’s unyielding dedication towards the force and achieving the rank of captain despite her dwindling health. Riordan’s colleagues brought the uniform Riordan wore as an Explorer.

Theology teacher Julia Arce spoke of Riordan’s love of knowledge and consistent contribution to the classroom, despite her lack of physical presence at Convent towards the end of her high school career.
A family friend of the Riordans shared stories of Riordan’s stoic existence and dedication to putting others before herself. Other members of the community spoke about her impact on their lives and her dedication to bettering the lives of other.

In Convent tradition, the Mass was closed with the school song “Coeur de Jesus” and followed with a reception.