The Cavalier Daily
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In Memoriam: honoring students we've lost

Remembering the three U.Va. students who died this year

The University community has felt much grief this year in the deaths of three students — Rose “Rosie” Marie Randolph, Holly Edwards and Melanie Wetzel. Even though these students have passed away, their memory and legacy lives on and continues to be honored in the University and Charlottesville community.

Melanie Wetzel, who was a member of the Class of 2017, died on Aug. 11, 2016. A valued member of the community, Wetzel was earning her Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies and working as a teacher’s assistant for Loudoun County.

Holly Edwards, who passed away on Jan. 7, was a beloved member of the Charlottesville community and a nursing doctoral student at the time of her death.

Edwards contributed to both the University and Charlottesville community, serving on Charlottesville City Council from 2008-11, and also working as a clinical instructor in the Nursing School. Edwards also served as a parish nurse at the Westhaven and Crescent Hall Clinics and as the program coordinator for the Public Housing Association of Residents. She was a lifetime member of the NAACP.

“She could connect people to one another who might not think that they need each other or might not understand how mutually beneficial it is for them to work together,” Jeanita Richardson, an associate professor in the Department of Public Health Services, previously told The Cavalier Daily. “And [she did this] always with the eye towards social justice.”

Prior to her death, Edwards received the Drewary Brown Memorial Community Bridge Builders Award in October 2016 to commemorate her efforts to strengthen the Charlottesville community.

Edwards was conferred her doctoral degree posthumously.

Randolph, who was a former first-year College student, passed away on April 8. Randolph was a Jefferson Scholar from Front Royal, Va. who took a leave of absence during her first semester in the fall and did not return to the University before her death.

“A gifted musician and softball player, she had many other interests, including human rights, robotics, reading and international travel,” Dean of Students Allen Groves wrote in an email to the student body.

Randolph is survived by her parents, Michael and Laura, her sisters, Bridget and Veronica and her brothers, Maximilian and Nathanael.

Student Council will host a student memorial service to honor and remember the lives of Randolph, Edwards and Wetzel on Tuesday, May 2. The service will be held in the University Chapel from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

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