Friends gather to remember Lillian Chason

In her UNC application essay, Lillian Chason wrote that she wanted to teach her peers about loss.

After 10 weeks of knowing Chason, her friends and professors learned that lesson through a story more tragic than her progressive loss of eyesight.

A crowd of about 75 students, professors and family gathered in Gerrard Hall on Saturday to share memories, photographs and the college essay of Chason, who died Dec. 16 at UNC Hospitals from complications doctors suspect to have originated with H1N1.

-Visit prayersforlillianfund.chipin.com to donate to the Prayers for Lillian Fund.

-There, you can view comments and make a secure donation to the fund after clicking on the orange “ChipIn” box.

-The funds will be donated to foundations chosen by the Chason family.

For many, the memorial provided a forum to express their sorrow for Chason’s death, which occurred after much of the student body had returned home for winter break.

“Several weeks passed before we were together,” said freshman Zealan Hoover, a close friend of Chason’s, in an interview. “It was nice to come together as a group for the first time since she passed away. It provided closure, but as her dad said, we didn’t want to close her out. For all of us, she will forever be a part of this school.”

Along with reading prayers, passages and a poem written by Chason’s mother, Cate Chason, friends shared their most poignant memories of Chason’s kindness and passion for life.

Mark Perry, a dramatic art professor and author of the play “A New Dress for Mona,” in which Chason was to play the lead role, recounted Chason’s unflagging resolve to overcome her deteriorating eyesight while auditioning.

“It’s not that she would avoid the subject, she just wouldn’t use it as an excuse for anything,” he said in an interview. “We asked her to read a section from the script, and she said she would have to come back tomorrow for that. It was because she would have to blow (the script font) up to be able to read it. She was a trooper.”

While the event provided the UNC community a chance to commemorate Chason, it also offered her parents a glimpse into their daughter’s college life.

“Just some anecdotes, like her baking cookies, were fun to hear,” said Chason’s father, Eric Chason, who accepted a certificate of achievement signed by Chancellor Holden Thorp and Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Melissa Exum on his daughter’s behalf.

Eric and Cate Chason have established the Prayers for Lillian Fund in their daughter’s memory. Thus far, $7,545 has been raised online, though the family has not decided how to use the money.

Cate Chason, who had planned to travel to Chapel Hill with her husband this weekend from their home in Barrington, R.I., to see the production of “A New Dress for Mona,” said the family has considered using the donations to create a dramatic arts scholarship at UNC. They have also considered making a charitable contribution to a foundation for students with disabilities.

Cate Chason added that while her daughter’s death made watching “A New Dress for Mona” an almost unbearable experience, the trip let her connect with her daughter’s life away from home.

“It was important for us to be here and see what an impact she made on her friends here at UNC,” she said in an interview. “Lillian was so amazingly happy here.”

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.