DELAWARE COUNTY — Irie O'Shea was recalled Sunday night as a kind person who was always ready to lend a helping hand.
Family, friends and community members gathered to share stories about the 17-year-old girl who died along with her grandparents, Kimberly and Daniel Porter, early Thursday morning in a house fire.
Rose Jett is the color guard director at Wes-Del Middle/Senior High School. O'Shea was a key member of the team.
"When I first met Irie she lit up the room," Jett said. "She was on the weapon line and she also did saber line so she was one of the high ones up there. She also trained the younger students when I wasn't able to. She wanted to be a counselor."
PREVIOUS | Three people killed in early morning house fire in Delaware County
O'Shea's willingness to help was a quality that defined her life, and it was something her friends remembered her for at a candlelight vigil outside the school.
"I was terrified of joining guard and the first practice she came up to me and was like, 'Hi, I'm Irie and we're going to be friends.' I was like 'OK!'" one friend said at the vigil.
O'Shea spent time growing up with different relatives around Indiana. The past two years were spent with her grandparents, the Porters, in Delaware County.
"Once she ended up here she really found her tribe and she really found the people around her that really kind of helped her come out of her shell and helped her grow," her aunt, Ariel Capouch, said. "Kimm was her rock and Kimm was an incredible human being."
Capouch said O'Shea loved driving around town, and she looked forward to college and loved the holidays and being with her friends.
"She loved Christmas. She loved shopping for Christmas. I think her biggest joy of Christmas was giving other people gifts," Capouch said. "The joy of watching her learn things and experience new things is something that will be hard for us to not move on with, but something that was amazing to see. She'll be dearly missed.
O'Shea's funeral will be open to the public Monday morning at St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Bloomington. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. with the funeral service to follow at noon.
"I still can't get the thought she's not coming back. I hope that light is still there," Jett said.
