PHOTO PROVIDED Island resident and The Sanibel School fifth-grade teacher Lauren Stahowiak, center, passed away on July 1. Close friends have helped her family set up a GoFundMe to help with costs and a Celebration of Life is planned for Aug. 3 on Sanibel. Pictured with Stahowiak are Jamie Wilson, left, and Ali Suarez.

UPDATE: Organizers reported that due to the possibility of inclement weather, the “Celebration of Life in Remembrance of Lauren Stahowiak” set for today, Aug. 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Community House on Sanibel has been postponed. A rescheduled date will be announced at a later time.

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UPDATE (Aug. 2, 2024):

Organizers reported that due to the possibility of inclement weather, the “Celebration of Life in Remembrance of Lauren Stahowiak” set for Aug. 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Gulfside City Beach Park has been moved to The Community House, at 2173 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel.

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ORIGINAL (July 22, 2024):

A remembrance gathering is planned for an island teacher and resident who passed away unexpectedly earlier this month, and a fund has been set up to help her family with the funeral expenses and associated costs.

Lauren E. Stahowiak, 32, of Sanibel, passed on July 1. Born in Warwick, Rhode Island, she was the daughter of Robert E. Stahowiak and wife Lesley and Pamela A. (Garganese) Stahowiak, of Warwick.

Stahowiak was a fifth-grade teacher at The Sanibel School and past Golden Apple Teacher nominee.

“Lauren was very close to her family and absolutely loved being a fifth-grade teacher,” the family shared in her obituary. “She was very devoted to her job and looked forward to seeing and teaching her ‘kids’ every day, and Lauren went above and beyond by tutoring in the afternoons after school.”

Stahowiak is survived by: her parents; sisters, Megan N. (Austin) Alvares of Warwick and Olivia M. Stahowiak of Warwick; stepbrother, Nicholas Galego of Riverside, Rhode Island; and nephew and niece, Camden and Avery Alvares.

Her funeral service and burial were held on July 11 in Warwick.

Locally, Stahowiak’s close friends have assisted the family in creating a GoFundMe to help with the funeral arrangements and related costs, with any additional donations to be used to honor her memory.

Colonial Elementary assistant principal and former intervention specialist at the Sanibel school, Michelle Heuck organized the “Help Bring Lauren Home: Funeral Support” on behalf of Stahowiak’s mother, Pamela. The fund has a goal of $25,000 and about $9,600 had been raised as of July 20.

“To know Lauren was to love her! She was always making someone laugh — even in the toughest times,” she shared, calling Stahowiak one of her best friends. “She cherished her family and adored her niece and nephew.”

“Lauren enjoyed going to the beach, cooking and finding things to create off Pinterest. In her spare time, you would often find her tutoring and supporting children,” Heuck added. “As an amazing teacher, she truly loved her students and will be forever missed.”

Additionally, close friend and island first-grade teacher Jamie Wilson has organized a “Celebration of Life in Remembrance of Lauren Stahowiak” on Aug. 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Gulfside City Beach Park on Sanibel. The community is invited to celebrate Stahowiak at her favorite place at sunset.

“We want to celebrate her and remember all of the light she brought into our lives,” she shared.

“We encourage you to wear bright colors,” Wilson added.

She explained that she met Stahowiak when she began her student teaching internship at the school, where Stahowiak was working as a paraprofessional at the time. They were hired for their first “official” teaching positions together for the next year. Wilson shared that they became close friends while preparing each other for the interviews and then shopping for and decorating their classes.

“Since we were both brand new teachers, we had to attend a ‘summer school’ program to train for our positions. We spent pretty much every weekday of that summer together, and Lauren made every training so much fun,” she said. “It was really great having a friend to lean on during that time in our lives since we both knew what the other was going through.”

Wilson explained that she was in shock when Heuck called about Stahowiak’s passing.

“I still am. I couldn’t process the news as I had just been texting with her an hour before I got the call,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to any of us.”

“Going back to school is going to be very hard for everyone, but we are so lucky to have the most supportive admin and staff,” Wilson added. “We are all going through this loss together, and I am just thankful to have them.”

She shared that Stahowiak was the funniest person one could ever meet and that she cared so much about her students and doing right by them. Stahowiak celebrated her students’ every win, and she was always planning new ways to make learning fun for them.

“She was kind to everyone she met but also unapologetically herself. Once she moved to the island, she went to the beach every night to watch the sunset,” Wilson said. “She would never miss the opportunity to talk about her family. She loved sharing pictures, videos and stories with us and took any chance she could to go see them.”

“There are so many wonderful words to be said about Lauren, but I would say one of my favorite things, and the thing I will miss most about her, is how true of a friend she was,” she added. “If you were lucky enough to truly know her, you know that she would do anything for you and would never leave you.”

The community is invited to attend the gathering and to consider donating to the fund.

“Our community on the island is so special, and it is so amazing to see so many people donating,” Wilson said. “Keep sharing her GoFundMe to help her family. We are all constantly thinking and praying for her family and just hope that helping with these costs can make things easier on them.”

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-lauren-home-funeral-support.

For those planning to attend the celebration of life, it is advised that they plan their transportation in advance because of minimal available parking. Walking, biking, carpooling and drop off is encouraged.

The Gulfside City Beach Park is at 2001 Algiers Lane, Sanibel.