The Brandeis community is mourning the loss of Mary Jagoda '05, who passed away last Sunday. Spending a weekend on Cape Cod, Mary and friend Sarah Aronoff, of Bethesda Md., went out on a kayaking trip, only to be reported missing by friends when the two girls did not return. Mary's body was found late last Monday afternoon; Sarah's body has yet to be found. Mary was 20 years old.A weekend vacationing on the Cape went bad when, last weekend, the two girls decided to go kayaking Sunday afternoon and disappeared into the fog.

Soon after Mary was reported missing, her family flew up from their home in Huntington, N.Y. and went directly to the Coast Guard station in Woods Hole, Mass.

"She's a very nice girl, very smart and determined. She was just becoming happy," Mary's mother, Anna May Jagoda, told the Boston Globe for an Oct. 15 article.

Mary, who was majoring in American Studies and a member of the Journalism program, had planned on studying in Scotland next semester.

At a memorial service held Oct. 15, Prof. Jacob Cohen (AMST), Mary's adviser and teacher, spoke of a change that had happened to Mary during her time at Brandeis.

"Anyone that saw her last year and then this year could see those eyes change, that person begin to blossom," Cohen said during the service. "Her skin glowed with a sense of excitement."

Mary's brother, Jake, remembered for his love of fishing and sailing, died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, having worked at Cantor Fitzgerald for under two months, according to the New York Times.

"It gets worse," Anne May told the Globe. "We had a baby that died 20 years ago from a birth defect."

This semester, Mary had begun playing on the Field Hockey team and was loved by her teammates.

"Mary was an all-around good person," one teammate and friend told the Justice.

"She was soft-spoken and never over-the-top - she was comfortable to be around," her friend continued. "Mary was really compassionate; she was really sincere and genuine."

"While Mary was never the fastest or loudest on our team, her presence was always felt," wrote one teammate.

"In field hockey - this was her first time ever playing - she picked up every really fast. I would work with her one-on-one, going over things no one else could do and she would just pick things up faster than anyone else. She was thinking things through, learning everything so she could do the best she could do," a teammate and friend told the Justice.

"Everything about Mary was genuine. Her words were sincere and her actions were heartfelt. She was a person everyone wanted to befriend because of her compassionate and caring nature," another teammate wrote.

According to an Oct. 16 Long Islander article, Mary was a member of the varsity swim team at her high school and a trained lifeguard. Her body was found without a life jacket or safety gear.

"She's been around the water since she's a little girl," her mother told the Long Islander. "It's just that the fog came in so fast."

"These girls were wearing two piece bathing suits and t-shirts," Tom Leach, Harbor master in the Town of Harwich told the Long Islander. "They were just out there for a few minutes of fun."

"She plugged away every year," Huntington High School swim coach Gil Smith reminisced to Newsday, referring to Mary's dedication to her high school swim team. "She gave it her all, on her own," eventually winning the team's most improved award during her senior year.

After leaving at 3 p.m., her friends called the fire department at 3:45 p.m. to report them missing; the call initiated a search, according to the Boston Globe.

The massive search, including a Coast Guard helicopter and cutter, numerous search parties with dogs and heat-detecting goggles, yielded no results until the women's kayaks were discovered Monday morning. The kayaks were found, tied together, in the Pollock Rip Channel, according to the Long Islander.

"They were tied together with a piece of shock cord, tied side to side," Leach told the Long Islander. "That's how they were found. It might have been a survival move by one or both of the girls."

The search continued until Tuesday morning when Mary's body was discovered by a coast guard cutter. Aronoff's body remains missing.

After hearing of Mary's death, the University was quick to issue condolences to the Jagoda family.

"Mary was a wonderful young woman whose strength and vitality will be missed by all who knew her," University President Jehuda Reinharz wrote in an all-campus e-mail. "Our prayers are with Mary's family, and I know that all members of the Brandeis community join with me in extending deepest sympathy and condolences to Mary's mother and father."

After an initial e-mail notifying the campus that Mary was missing, the second e-mail brought a wave of grief over the campus resulting in a candlelight vigil arranged by chaplains Rabbi Alan Lehman and Father David Michael.

"Mary had such bright, beautiful eyes; I had no idea what sadness had been hidden in them for so long," wrote a freshman teammate.

"She was the kind of person I want to be someday," wrote the same teammate.

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Editor's Note: If you would like to make a donation in Mary's honor, her mother request that all donatons be made to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, established to help families and loved ones of those who died in the World Trade Center disaster. Contact the fund at (212) 829-4770 or at info@cantorrelief.org.