Remembering Arianna LeCruise

A memorial was held on March 10 for students to reflect on memories and write their consolences to add to a memorial. Photo by Cora Flynn '26

Arianna LeCruise, a sophomore Fashion Merchandising student, passed away unexpectedly on March 8 while studying abroad in London. 

LeCruise was born on October 24, 2006, in the Bronx, New York. She lived on campus, wrote for Measure Magazine and spent a great deal of her time at the MakerLab, where she worked as the social media manager before she took off for London to study abroad. 

This heartbreaking loss has been felt by the Marist community as a whole. Even those who didn’t know LeCruise personally reflected at her memorial: “I didn't know your name, but your smile lit up the room whenever I walked into the MakerLab,” one note said.

Her friends at the MakerLab echoed these sentiments, making it clear that LeCruise was never just a student or coworker; she was the glue that held the MakerLab together. 

“Arianna was my best friend,” said Hannah Bell ‘28, who also worked with LeCruise at the MakerLab. “She was really a cornerstone of both my personal life and my professional life.”

“We met through this Fundamentals of Art and Design class, where she did not want to be my friend. I kind of forced her to be my friend because she was not really in the market for new friends, but I was like, ‘You're going to be my friend anyway,’” Bell recalled with a laugh. “She's very quiet until you get to know her. And I think that through the MakerLab, she really blossomed and really became this really outgoing girl that everybody loved to talk to.”

“She brought us together as a team, as a MakerLab, but she made us so much more than just coworkers. I think she made going to work, for me, a really, really pleasurable experience. And we were saying that not only did she bond us through her life, but now that she's gone, it's bonding us; she's continuing to be the glue that keeps us together,” Bell added. 

Grace Bolander ‘26 started working with LeCruise last spring. 

“Ais put us on the opening shift together on Wednesday mornings. And I'm not a morning person. I was always a couple of minutes late, and she would be here with the lights on and the windows open. I was like, ‘I don't know how you have so much energy,’ but she had so much energy,” she said.

“Arianna was so joyful and happy to be here,” Bolander continued. “And she made the whole space brighter with that kind of vibe that she brought in. She loved the MakerLab. She became such a staple. She would never stop working, even when we told her to stop working. But she just always wanted to help and be a part of things, and just be there for people.”

“There was this one time that I was in class and my water bottle exploded and got water all over my laptop,” Bolander recalled. “I had to bring my laptop here to try and dry it off, and she was working. I was like, ‘I don't know what to do, my laptop is all wet, maybe I need to go to Shop Rite and get a bag of rice.’”

“But she door dashed me a huge bag of rice so that I didn't have to go out and get it, and it showed up in like 10 minutes. And I said, ‘You don't have to do that.’ But she was like, ‘No, I'll get it for you.’”

“She really, really affected a lot of people that she probably didn't know that she did,” said Bell. “That was just the type of girl she was. It wasn't all about her; she was very humble, but she accomplished so much. She touched so many people, and I think that's what really made her a valuable friend and classmate to a lot of people.”

LeCruise’s friends also emphasized the love she had for her family and her siblings. 

“She was just such a generous person. She was so sweet, and I don't think I really ever saw her not like that. She brought so much joy into the shop; everybody who came in and worked with her or anybody that she helped, she was always so kind and helpful,” said Bolander. “And we all really love her. And she loved being here, too.”

“Not only was she friendly, but she was also the queen of sass. She was so sassy. She didn't, she didn't take shit from anybody. I think she taught me, and probably a lot of people, to be confident in yourself and your abilities. She always knew that she was good at what she did and that she could get a job done,” said Bell.

“I remember the last day she was here,” said Elsie Mele ‘26. “We were all organizing and taking apart the shop, and she just came in and said, ‘My mom's an hour away, but I don't want to leave.’ And we were pushing her and saying, ‘You're gonna have so much fun abroad. Just go.’ And she did to the last second, she was having so much fun when she was there.”

“She always told us, ‘Just do it.’ Even if you're scared, just do the most that you can possibly do in this life.’ And she lived by that. And I just know that she had so much fun every second and that she made sure that she was living her life to the fullest, and she inspired everybody else to do the same,” Mele continued. 

“I just want to make sure that she's remembered as the happy person that she was,” Mele said. “I know she wants to be celebrated and wants us to celebrate her.”

Gabriella Cortes ‘28 met LeCruise in high school, but the MakerLab wound up being the start of their close friendship. 

“She and I only interacted a couple of times [in high school], but those couple of times made me realize ‘maybe she and I can be friends..’ I mean, we were always considered twins; maybe we had a chance.”

“We fast forward to college, at the MakerLab. When we recognized each other from our BOCES programs, we instantly started catching up on life, almost like we’ve been friends forever,” Cortes said. “We were walking back to Leo Hall, chatting about all the things we wanted to do together and how we wanted to become better friends and grow our connection. She was genuine, kind, and throughout our conversation, I knew that she and I had a chance.”

“We started working together at MakerLab. The laughs, the smiles, the chatter; she filled the room with her joy. Every time she and I were on shift, we caught up on life, our love lives and we even got into 3D together. Little did we know, we’d try making content with 3D for the longest time and each time we kept on laughing because she and I couldn’t stop laughing at each other when trying to record our videos. Her, McKenna, and I encouraged her to get her nose piercing that ended up suiting her so well, as we imagined it would. She could pull off just about anything, and every chance she got, she took it,” Cortest continued. 

“Halloween, she came dressed as a ladybug to her shift. The prettiest and daintiest ladybug there was,” Cortes said. “She said, ‘Guys, look, I’m a ladybug; do we like the antennas?’ That was the day we started calling her Ladybug. She always said, ‘You only live once, right? So, just do it.’”

“She was telling me how much she felt all sorts of emotions when it came to traveling abroad — excited, nervous, daring, but she knew that this was her time to make it or break it, and she took the chance, and when I had the chance, I hugged her tight,” Cortes said. “She always took the chance. Always take the chance. You never know that chance can give you a breakthrough.”

LeCruise is survived by her parents and five siblings. As of April 10, a GoFundMe started by LeCruise’s aunt has raised $31,155 to support LeCruise’s family with the cost of the funeral. 

The funeral was held on April 11 at the New Beginnings Church in Middletown, N.Y. There is also an opportunity to purchase memorial trees or send flowers to her family in memory of LeCruise. 

“Her memory will be ingrained in our hearts for eons,” Bell said. “For the rest of our lives.”