COLUMBUS, Ohio — Stephanie Fibelkorn, who crammed in more in her 21 brief years than some people twice her age, was honored at a memorial service Wednesday.
Hundreds flocked to the memorial at Ohio State University, where she was a mechanical engineering student. Among the speakers were Columbus’ mayor and city manager, Ohio State’s college president, Disney World representatives and several family and friends.
Fibelkorn was killed in a freak accident Dec. 12, when a speeding pickup collided with a school bus in downtown Columbus. The impact pushed the bus into Fibelkorn and her boss, Bill Lewis, the city of Columbus’ chief mobility engineer. Fibelkorn and Lewis were crossing the street, on their way to a meeting, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The accident occurred on the last day of Fibelkorn’s four-month internship with the city.
She was the granddaughter of Humboldt’s Anna Ford, daughter of Humboldt native Mary Fibelkorn and her husband Steve, and the niece of Humboldt’s Joe and Laura Weiner and Frank Weiner.
Fibelkorn had set her sights on becoming an “Imagineer,” a designer of rides and roller coasters at Disney World.
She had worked with the Disney World College Program as a cast member since August 2013. She was scheduled to return to the theme park Wednesday to work over the holidays.
“She liked to preach happiness and kindness,” Joe Weiner told the Register, noting Fibelkorn and her parents frequently came to Humboldt to visit relatives. “She was also a genius. She was in the top half percent of the top half percent.”
“One of her favorite parts about coming back to Kansas was seeing the Baby Barnyard at the Allen County Fair,” Weiner said.
WEDNESDAY’S memorial service drew plenty of laughs and cheers, Weiner said, as speaker after speaker talked about Fibelkorn’s selfless nature.
“They talked about how Mondays and Fridays were always the toughest days of the week, but when Stephanie showed up with such a big smile, they couldn’t help but be happy,” Weiner said.
A video shown during the service is available at the Dispatch’s website, www.dispatch.com.
Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman held up a street sign that read “Stephanie’s Imagineer Way” that will be placed at 18th Avenue and N. High Street near OSU’s engineering school, the Dispatch reported.
Ohio State President Michael B. Drake said the university would match all contributions to a scholarship fund in Stephanie’s name for women majoring in math or engineering.
Before the “celebration of Stephanie’s life” began, people mingled in a lobby with songs from Disney films playing. In a slideshow, she appeared as a little girl, then a young woman, both times posing with Disney characters at the amusement park her family frequently visited, the newspaper reported.
