Marinna Khon, a Syracuse University graduate from Lynn, Mass., was known for her giving and optimistic personality.

As the oldest of five, Khon’s family and friends said she was patient, funny, intelligent, and motivated.

‘She’s always there for you; she always knows what to say to you. She’s an amazing sister,’ said her sister Madelene Ba. ‘I can’t really explain it. There’s not enough words to explain it.’

Khon, who graduated from SU on May 16, was lost in the Merrimack River on the evening of May 25 after she and seven friends were swept off a sandbar in Plum Island in Massachusetts. The Coast Guard was called at 5:13 p.m., and while people boating on the river pulled her friends to safety, Khon was pulled out to sea, said Petty Officer Connie Terrell of the Coast Guard’s Office of Public Affairs.

The Coast Guard, state and local police, environmental police and harbormaster searched for Khon, but she was presumed drowned, and the search was called off the next day at 9:22 p.m, said Lt. Richard Siemasko of the Newburyport Police Department.

Two fishermen found her body at the mouth of the Merrimack on June 3, said Lt. Mark Murray, the operations lieutenant of the Newburyport Police Department, in an e-mail interview.

Khon majored in information management and technology at SU. She was also a dancer and part of The Shift Dance Crew at SU.

‘I know Marinna wanted to give her family a better life,’ said her cousin Anne Tith. ‘Her mother, Sokhan, always told me she never disappointed her — she was such a good kid.’

Khon’s family also remembered her as having been smart since childhood.

‘When she was a little girl she always wanted to play school,’ Tith recalled. ‘I used to babysit her and her siblings, and every time they were over we played school. I would give them tests just like real class, and she was always so bright.’

Tith said family and friends recognized Khon as an energetic and friendly person.

‘Her friends describe her as always smiling, always positive and giving,’ Tith said. ‘She loved to laugh, stay active and spontaneous.’

At SU, that same personality described by family members could also be seen in the workplace.

‘She was the hardest worker. She never complained. She always had good things to say about everyone,’ said Paris McLean, Khon’s co-worker at the E.S. Bird Library café and a junior engineering and computer science major.

The two co-workers had closing shifts together. McLean recalled Khon always smiled both in and out of work. Although the two did not know each other well, Khon would always talk to her when she saw her outside of work.

When she was not working or doing her schoolwork, Khon danced in The Shift Dance Crew. As part of the dance crew, she choreographed her own routine. She had a unique style of dance and taught everyone, said Jonathan Shih, also a member of the dance crew and a sophomore in computer art major.

Although the Coast Guard called off the search for Khon on May 26, police, family and friends kept hoping Khon was safe somewhere and continued to search, Tith said.

Friends and family held a bonfire at Plum Island in honor of Khon on May 28 and a candlelight vigil also took place May 30.

A Facebook group called ‘Marinna Khon We Remember’ was also created by Tith shortly after the incident. The group has more than 1,200 members as of Sunday evening and contains a collection of photos, videos and memories posted by those who knew her.

‘Marinna is truly an angel,’ said Tith. ‘She was God’s gift to her friends and family. Without her our hearts are hollow, and she can never be replaced.’

lgleveil@syr.edu

A previous version of this article appeared on dailyorange.com on May 31, 2010.

 

Published on August 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Laurence: lgleveil@syr.edu | @lgleveille