It was Kristen Duhamel’s infectious smile and hearty laugh that set her apart.
“You never saw Kristen mad. She always had a smile on her face,” said Sheenagh Denniston, one of Duhamel’s closest friends from home. “If I was ever upset or a friend was, she would snap you out of it within five minutes of conversation. She always made you feel that you were going to be all right.”
Denniston recalled lying on Duhamel’s bed two weeks ago, sharing her thoughts and troubles with her companion. After minutes of chatting and joking, Denniston said she felt at ease.
“Kristen was so bubbly, so easy to talk to,” she said. “She had such a unique laugh – it would just get us all going. If you were in a bad mood, you weren’t staying in a bad mood around Kristen.”
Vivid are the memories of Duhamel, a Fairfield sophomore, in Denniston’s mind. But the void she feels after a car accident took Duhamel’s life on Saturday, Sept. 22 left her at a loss for words.
Duhamel’s parents, Scott and Loren, said she was a unique, compassionate young woman.
“Kristen was the sunshine of our lives, she was our angel,” said Loren Duhamel, emphasizing their strong familial bond. “Her and I had the most wonderful relationship that any mother and daughter could ever have, and I hope that other mothers can have that relationship with their daughters because that’s one of the reasons she was such a great girl. She would always worry about me and ask, ‘Are you OK mom? What’s going on in your life?'”
Duhamel was very close with her two brothers Daniel, 26, and David, 24, Loren Duhamel said. She also cherished her dog, a yellow Labrador Retriever named Max.
“Kristen loved Max,” Loren Duhamel said. “One thing that she told her friends was, ‘I love college but I miss Max.'”
Her father shared similar sentiments about his daughter’s demeanor.
“Even on a bad day, she was always smiling,” Scott Duhamel said. “Even people who have only met her a few times are distraught.”
Duhamel often waited tables and served breakfast at her family-owned restaurant, The Willows, at the Willows Resort in Charlestown, R.I. It was here, Scott Duhamel said, that she shared her personality with the community.
“She became a daughter of I don’t know how many people,” he said. “When they came in, she imparted that same – it’s not charm, it’s more of a passionate air.”
Duhamel also served her community as a volunteer for the Charlestown Ambulance ‘ Rescue Service for the past two years. The experience helped prepare her for a career in nursing, a field in which she had been interested since childhood, her parents said.
“She really was the nicest and kindest person I’ve ever met in my life,” said Laura Brigada, who volunteered with Duhamel at the rescue service. “I considered her my best friend. I know that most people only have one or two best friends, but Kristen was probably a best friend to dozens, if not more people than that.”
Brigada and Denniston co-created a Facebook group, “Rest In Peace, Kristen Duhamel.” Since the accident occurred, friends, classmates and even those unfamiliar with Duhamel have posted prayers and photos. The group also lists Duhamel’s favorite quote, a lyric from the Incubus song “Wish You Were Here”: “I dig my toes into the sand, the ocean looks like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket … and in this moment I am happy.”
At Fairfield, Duhamel was very involved in Campus Ministry, according to its director Fr. Michael Doody.
“She did a work-study in Bridgeport for a literacy program and would borrow a car from me sometimes,” said Doody of his first encounter with Duhamel. “She went to mass all the time and made sure I knew her face and her name.”
Doody said he admired her interest in faith and service, namely in her training to become a Eucharistic Minister.
“For a sophomore to take that step, she was obviously very serious about her faith,” he said. “It takes a lot of effort to stand out from the crowd, to choose to serve and to make a real commitment.”
Philip Greiner, Duhamel’s faculty adviser, said she was very “proactive.”
“Kristen was one of those students who not only came to see me when she was required to but stopped in to try to plan out her four years of education,” said Greiner, associate professor in the School of Nursing.
Though Duhamel had many close friends at Fairfield, many said they were too emotional to comment.
In her mother’s eyes, however, Duhamel is best described as a “giver.”
“She was a girl who gave from the heart. She always thought about other people,” Loren Duhamel said. “Her laugh – she was famous for that. She was full of life, she loved life. She was a happy girl, and that’s why she was always laughing.”
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