Loyola celebrates the life of Angela DeCarlo, ’19

The Loyola University Maryland community is mourning the loss of Angela DeCarlo, a Loyola senior who passed away Nov. 4, after a battle against cancer. The global studies major will be remembered for her strength, her deep friendships, her passion for her studies and involvement at Loyola, and for always persevering with courage and grace.

A resident of Baltimore, DeCarlo was a student in Loyola’s Honors Program. She was actively involved in the campus community, including serving as copy editor for The Greyhound, helping plan Relay for Life, and participating in Kairos—Loyola’s Christian retreat program.

“Angela was so accomplished. She had such a mind for life, and she really felt that her voice was important,” said Elise Gower, associate director for programs for Loyola’s Center for Community Service and Justice. “She was strong and driven. She had goals and she wanted to work for them.”

Gower came to Loyola from a position at the John Carroll School in Bel Air, Md., where DeCarlo studied before attending Loyola. Gower recalls DeCarlo as an active member of the award-winning student newspaper staff there and an enthusiastic student in her classes.

“Angela asked questions all the time in the classroom. She was the one who wanted to understand things more deeply,” said Gower, who traveled with a group of John Carroll students on an immersion trip to the Dominican Republic. “We entered the community, and you didn’t know where Angela was. She was just meeting everybody she could, engaging everybody she could. That was the kind of person she was.”

A member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society, DeCarlo refused to take medical leaves to pursue treatments, staying focused on making the most out of her time as a Loyola student.

“Her resilience was very inspiring,” said Natka Bianchini, Ph.D., associate professor of theatre and class dean for the Class of 2019. “She even took a full course load last year while undergoing chemo and radiation.”

Martha Taylor, Ph.D., associate professor of classics, taught DeCarlo and served as her Honors advisor when she was a first-year student.

“Angela was insistent on living her life despite her cancer, and it was the most inspirational thing,” Taylor said. “Angela was absolutely committed to squeezing as much out of life as she could. She was trying to live on campus and take as many classes that she could.”

Taylor recalled that particular class of Honors students as a special group of bright, engaged, generous students who bonded during class and stayed close friends as they surrounded and supported DeCarlo during the last stages of her journey on earth.

“What I keep seeing is her shining, smiling face,” Taylor said. She was a really bright light.”

DeCarlo will be awarded her bachelor’s degree posthumously when her classmates graduate in May 2019.

The Loyola community remembered DeCarlo at a Mass on Nov. 5. Members of Angela DeCarlo's family will join the Loyola community for a celebration of Angela's life on campus on Nov. 15. All are welcome.

Arrangements

Celebrations of Angela's Life

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018
1:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Chapel
Loyola University Maryland
4501 North Charles St.
Baltimore, Md. 21210

Limited street parking may be available. Satellite parking is available on the two lower tiers of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen parking lot at 5200 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 21210, approximately three tenths of a mile south of Northern Parkway and one-half mile north of Cold Spring Lane. Loyola shuttles will be available for guests to ride from that lot to and from campus, running approximately every 10 minutes prior to and following the service. Find more information about the shuttles here. Your shuttle driver will be able to direct you to the right stop for Alumni Memorial Chapel.

Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018
12:30 p.m.
The Taylor Pavilion
500 Ocean Ave.
Belmar, N.J. 07719