The campus community gathered at St. Vincent de Paul Chapel Tuesday to continue to remember in prayer the life of theology junior Nina De Angelo, who recently passed away of complications from long-lasting health issues. Her parents, Peter and Mary, sat in the front row during an evening Mass filled with Nina’s friends, professors, and many more whose lives she had touched.
University Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry Father Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., celebrated the Mass with chaplains Father Teo Brea, S.S.J., and Father Bernard Knapke, O.P., and Father Vincent Strand, S.J., assistant professor of theology. Also remembered during the liturgy was Nina’s instructor, Old Testament Professor Robert Miller, who passed away last week from cancer.
Maevis Fahey, a philosophy and politics junior, honored the memory of her friend Nina with over 150 handsewn heart-shaped ornaments she and her mother made to give out to each person who entered the chapel doors. She said Nina’s selfless love for others rooted in her faith reflected the spirit of the season.
“She was a wonderful and joyful person,” said the student government president. “We wanted to make a tangible sign that her memory lives on.” After the Mass, Father Aquinas blessed the hearts.
Nina was part of the University Singers choir and her artwork channeling her advocacy for people with invisible disabilities was featured in the 2023 Artists Without Limits exhibit in Annapolis, Md. She aspired to be an author after graduation and completed a book publishing internship last summer.