This story by John Lippman was first published in the Valley News on July 7.
WINDSOR — A sign with a large pink background was stuck in the red mulch over the weekend under a green canopy in front of the entrance of Bellows Free Academy in Fairfax, boutiques of flowers spread around its base.
“MUST BE GOD NEEDED A CHEERLEADER IN HEAVEN,” the sign announced, saying just enough for people who understood its reference.
Students and teachers are in mourning over the loss of one of their own, 14-year-old Maameyaa Ntiriwaa. Everyone knew her as “Pinky,” in keeping with the electric pink color of her long, neatly woven braids.
Pinky, who had recently graduated 8th grade and was on her way to high school in the coming school year, died in a drowning incident at Kennedy Pond in Windsor on July 2. She had come to Windsor with family friends, police said last week.
“She was a bright light in any dark day,” said Danielle Rothy, whose family lives on the same street in Fairfax as Pinky’s and coached her on BFA Fairfax’s cross-country team.
“She had a vibrant personality, a big smile, and so much sass,” Rothy said, her voice choking during a phone interview with the Valley News on Monday.
The pink sign out in front of the school was put up by Pinky’s classmates, Rothy said, to honor their friend, who was an enthusiastic member of BFA Fairfax cheerleading squad.
In the neighborhood, Pinky was the leader among a band of 15 or so kids who all lived within doors of each other, Rothy said, noting that Pinky served as a role model for them, including for Rothy’s own two children, a 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.
“She was on the older side of the kids in our neighborhood and she took care of all the younger ones. She was the leader and they all just followed her around like little puppies behind their mom,” Rothy said.
Pinky “would take care of everybody and was kind to everyone,” Rothy said. And a peacemaker.
“She was always trying to mediate issues between other people,” Rothy related.
Pinky’s family is from Ghana, according to Rothy, although all the children were born in the U.S. After Pinky’s death, Rothy, Fairfax’s parks and recreation director, said she was approached by Pinky’s fellow cheerleaders to ask if they could all wear pink — “her favorite color” — in honor of their belove squad member in the town’s annual July 4th parade.
“But instead of just having the cheerleaders do it, I opened it up to the entire town and invited people to wear pink” said Rothy, who took to social media in a call for parade-goers and the town to wear something pink to commemorate the Pinky.
The celebration in pink for Pinky continued over to the town party in the park, where one of the food vendors donated all the tips from his tip jar to Pinky’s family, Rothy reported in a social media post. “A lot of people wore pink. It was a very much a pink parade and it was hard, but we did it,” Rothy said.
Last week, a person who described themselves as a friend of Pinky’s family launched a GoFundMe campaign to raises money for her family and help pay for Pinky’s funeral service.
By Monday afternoon, the campaign had received 532 donations and raised more than $36,000.
