Members of the small boating community of Kemah came together Saturday to remember the 5-year-old girl whose body was found in the Kemah Boardwalk Marina Friday.
Dressed in Fiona "Kitty" Carroll's favorite color, pink, children and parents alike blew bubbles, held balloons and prayed for the girl, who was described as spunky, friendly and lively at a celebration at the Old Kemah School Museum. Clouds parted and the sun greeted family and friends who attended Saturday afternoon's bubble-blowing memorial.
"She's a really good example of how one very small person can have such an impact in such a short time. She was such a joy," said Christine Barr, Kitty's maternal aunt.
People from around the world who couldn't make it to the bubble=blowing ceremony took pictures of themselves blowing bubbles and shared them on Kitty's and Barr's Facebook pages. Barr's sorority sister, Khrystene Keane in Connecticut, was so moved that she has plans to put together a rendition of Verdi's Requiem with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Kitty's honor.
Kitty disappeared Thursday at the marina while her father worked on the family's sailboat, which they bought in 2009 and refurbished with hopes of sailing on vacations to the Caribbean. Her body was found at 9 a.m. the next day submerged under a dock near the family's boat, the "Ceol Mor."
Community members are stepping up to help the family. Jimmy Sims, co-owner of Kemah Flowers & Co., will donate a casket cover made of Kitty's favorite flower, lilies. And of course, they will be pink.
"(Kitty and her father) would pass by our shop every morning to get to the marina. She would be on her dad's shoulders, on his bike or behind her dad's bike in her little cart, and she was a very energetic, spunky, happy, very friendly young lady," Sims said. "The community is heartbroken … it was a shock when it was one of our own."
Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch, said that her father didn't see her go into the water or hear a splash.
"When we found her, it was certainly many mixed emotions about that. And of course the biggest emotion was sadness and grief and how could something like this happen to such a precious little girl? … At least she was found," Miller said.
Miller called the search one of his most memorable he's helped on to date. He worked with Kitty's uncle, Keith Boyett, a detective with the Missouri City Police Department, on other search and rescue missions. Miller got the call from Boyett to help search for Kitty.
"This is always going to stay fresh. I guarantee you that there's not one Equusearch member and probably not one member in the community that will ever drive down 146 over to Kemah and see those boats in the marina (the same way). The very first thought that will come to mind is little Kitty," Miller said.
A public service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Bay Harbor United Methodist Church on Deke Slayton Parkway. A burial will follow at the Seabrook Cemetery. After the burial, the community is invited to Clear Lake Elks Lodge for a celebration of Kitty's life.
Dressed in Fiona "Kitty" Carroll's favorite color, pink, children and parents alike blew bubbles, held balloons and prayed for the girl, who was described as spunky, friendly and lively at a celebration at the Old Kemah School Museum. Clouds parted and the sun greeted family and friends who attended Saturday afternoon's bubble-blowing memorial.
"She's a really good example of how one very small person can have such an impact in such a short time. She was such a joy," said Christine Barr, Kitty's maternal aunt.
People from around the world who couldn't make it to the bubble=blowing ceremony took pictures of themselves blowing bubbles and shared them on Kitty's and Barr's Facebook pages. Barr's sorority sister, Khrystene Keane in Connecticut, was so moved that she has plans to put together a rendition of Verdi's Requiem with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Kitty's honor.
Kitty disappeared Thursday at the marina while her father worked on the family's sailboat, which they bought in 2009 and refurbished with hopes of sailing on vacations to the Caribbean. Her body was found at 9 a.m. the next day submerged under a dock near the family's boat, the "Ceol Mor."
Community members are stepping up to help the family. Jimmy Sims, co-owner of Kemah Flowers & Co., will donate a casket cover made of Kitty's favorite flower, lilies. And of course, they will be pink.
"(Kitty and her father) would pass by our shop every morning to get to the marina. She would be on her dad's shoulders, on his bike or behind her dad's bike in her little cart, and she was a very energetic, spunky, happy, very friendly young lady," Sims said. "The community is heartbroken … it was a shock when it was one of our own."
Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch, said that her father didn't see her go into the water or hear a splash.
"When we found her, it was certainly many mixed emotions about that. And of course the biggest emotion was sadness and grief and how could something like this happen to such a precious little girl? … At least she was found," Miller said.
Miller called the search one of his most memorable he's helped on to date. He worked with Kitty's uncle, Keith Boyett, a detective with the Missouri City Police Department, on other search and rescue missions. Miller got the call from Boyett to help search for Kitty.
"This is always going to stay fresh. I guarantee you that there's not one Equusearch member and probably not one member in the community that will ever drive down 146 over to Kemah and see those boats in the marina (the same way). The very first thought that will come to mind is little Kitty," Miller said.
A public service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Bay Harbor United Methodist Church on Deke Slayton Parkway. A burial will follow at the Seabrook Cemetery. After the burial, the community is invited to Clear Lake Elks Lodge for a celebration of Kitty's life.
Members of the small boating community of Kemah came together Saturday to remember the 5-year-old girl whose body was found in the Kemah Boardwalk Marina Friday.
Dressed in Fiona "Kitty" Carroll's favorite color, pink, children and parents alike blew bubbles, held balloons and prayed for the girl, who was described as spunky, friendly and lively at a celebration at the Old Kemah School Museum. Clouds parted and the sun greeted family and friends who attended Saturday afternoon's bubble-blowing memorial.
"She's a really good example of how one very small person can have such an impact in such a short time. She was such a joy," said Christine Barr, Kitty's maternal aunt.
People from around the world who couldn't make it to the bubble=blowing ceremony took pictures of themselves blowing bubbles and shared them on Kitty's and Barr's Facebook pages. Barr's sorority sister, Khrystene Keane in Connecticut, was so moved that she has plans to put together a rendition of Verdi's Requiem with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Kitty's honor.
Kitty disappeared Thursday at the marina while her father worked on the family's sailboat, which they bought in 2009 and refurbished with hopes of sailing on vacations to the Caribbean. Her body was found at 9 a.m. the next day submerged under a dock near the family's boat, the "Ceol Mor."
Community members are stepping up to help the family. Jimmy Sims, co-owner of Kemah Flowers & Co., will donate a casket cover made of Kitty's favorite flower, lilies. And of course, they will be pink.
"(Kitty and her father) would pass by our shop every morning to get to the marina. She would be on her dad's shoulders, on his bike or behind her dad's bike in her little cart, and she was a very energetic, spunky, happy, very friendly young lady," Sims said. "The community is heartbroken … it was a shock when it was one of our own."
Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch, said that her father didn't see her go into the water or hear a splash.
"When we found her, it was certainly many mixed emotions about that. And of course the biggest emotion was sadness and grief and how could something like this happen to such a precious little girl? … At least she was found," Miller said.
Miller called the search one of his most memorable he's helped on to date. He worked with Kitty's uncle, Keith Boyett, a detective with the Missouri City Police Department, on other search and rescue missions. Miller got the call from Boyett to help search for Kitty.
"This is always going to stay fresh. I guarantee you that there's not one Equusearch member and probably not one member in the community that will ever drive down 146 over to Kemah and see those boats in the marina (the same way). The very first thought that will come to mind is little Kitty," Miller said.
A public service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Bay Harbor United Methodist Church on Deke Slayton Parkway. A burial will follow at the Seabrook Cemetery. After the burial, the community is invited to Clear Lake Elks Lodge for a celebration of Kitty's life.
Dressed in Fiona "Kitty" Carroll's favorite color, pink, children and parents alike blew bubbles, held balloons and prayed for the girl, who was described as spunky, friendly and lively at a celebration at the Old Kemah School Museum. Clouds parted and the sun greeted family and friends who attended Saturday afternoon's bubble-blowing memorial.
"She's a really good example of how one very small person can have such an impact in such a short time. She was such a joy," said Christine Barr, Kitty's maternal aunt.
People from around the world who couldn't make it to the bubble=blowing ceremony took pictures of themselves blowing bubbles and shared them on Kitty's and Barr's Facebook pages. Barr's sorority sister, Khrystene Keane in Connecticut, was so moved that she has plans to put together a rendition of Verdi's Requiem with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Kitty's honor.
Kitty disappeared Thursday at the marina while her father worked on the family's sailboat, which they bought in 2009 and refurbished with hopes of sailing on vacations to the Caribbean. Her body was found at 9 a.m. the next day submerged under a dock near the family's boat, the "Ceol Mor."
Community members are stepping up to help the family. Jimmy Sims, co-owner of Kemah Flowers & Co., will donate a casket cover made of Kitty's favorite flower, lilies. And of course, they will be pink.
"(Kitty and her father) would pass by our shop every morning to get to the marina. She would be on her dad's shoulders, on his bike or behind her dad's bike in her little cart, and she was a very energetic, spunky, happy, very friendly young lady," Sims said. "The community is heartbroken … it was a shock when it was one of our own."
Tim Miller, the founder of Texas Equusearch, said that her father didn't see her go into the water or hear a splash.
"When we found her, it was certainly many mixed emotions about that. And of course the biggest emotion was sadness and grief and how could something like this happen to such a precious little girl? … At least she was found," Miller said.
Miller called the search one of his most memorable he's helped on to date. He worked with Kitty's uncle, Keith Boyett, a detective with the Missouri City Police Department, on other search and rescue missions. Miller got the call from Boyett to help search for Kitty.
"This is always going to stay fresh. I guarantee you that there's not one Equusearch member and probably not one member in the community that will ever drive down 146 over to Kemah and see those boats in the marina (the same way). The very first thought that will come to mind is little Kitty," Miller said.
A public service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Bay Harbor United Methodist Church on Deke Slayton Parkway. A burial will follow at the Seabrook Cemetery. After the burial, the community is invited to Clear Lake Elks Lodge for a celebration of Kitty's life.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
