A Shoreham-Wading River High School senior seriously injured in a car accident Thursday evening succumbed to her injuries Friday.
Melissa Marchese, 18, of Shoreham was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a two-car crash on Route 25A in Shoreham June 13. She was airlifted to Stony Brook with serious injuries.
Marchese was set to graduate from Shoreham-Wading River High School on June 20.
“She brought so much joy to our lives in the short time she was here with us. She wouldn’t have it any other way,” her father Charlie Marchese said in a Facebook post last night. He described her as a driven athlete, a born leader, dedicated to her family — “the type of person we all should hope to be — kind, strong, funny, generous, and ambitious.”
He described his daughter as someone who “simply did not lose” at anything.
“Her final victory was to fight off death long enough to become an organ donor and save lives, something she always wanted to do,” he wrote.
Shoreham-Wading River school district opened the high school library last night as a gathering place for students and said it would have staff there for support. The district’s mental health team will be available and ready for students as they return to school next week.
The high school has canceled final exams.
“The Shoreham-Wading River School District community is devastated to learn of the tragic loss of one of our students who was involved in a motor vehicle accident Thursday night,” the district said in a message posted on its website yesterday.
“[W]e extend our deepest condolences to the individual’s family and friends and we continue to keep all those involved and impacted by this tragedy in our thoughts during this very difficult time,” the statement said.
Two other teens in the vehicle Marchese was riding in, as well as the driver of the other vehicle, a 34-year-old man from Ridge, sustained injuries police said were not life-threatening and were treated at area hospitals. The accident is under investigation. Suffolk Police ask anyone with information about this crash is asked to call the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752.
Wake and funeral arrangements announced
The family will receive visitors on Thursday, June 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. and on Friday, June 21, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Branch Funeral Home of MIller Place, 551 Route 25A, Miller Place.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Saturday, June 22 at 11 a.m. at St Mark’s R.C. Church, 105 Randall Road, Shoreham.
Interment will follow at Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai.
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