Emily Reis was the type of person who had a smile for everyone.
Reis, who transferred to Binghamton University in the spring of 2008, passed away May 19 in Byron, N.Y., in an apartment fire that also claimed her mother, brother and sister. She was a philosophy, politics and law major, and had plans to go to law school.
Survivors include her grandmother, Jean Allyn, who said Reis is “sadly missed by her family.”
Almost 400 people have joined a group dedicated to her on Facebook, and many have left messages honoring her memory.
“There’s an investigation on the cause [of the fire], but so far it’s still undetermined,” said John Durand, the Byron fire chief.
Durand said that he believes the fire started in the kitchen area, but there are no definite answers on exactly what started the fire. The kitchen stove was sent to a forensics lab for testing, but came back with no conclusive answers.
“We’re still doing research but we believe we probably will not have a definitive cause,” he said.
Despite her short stay at BU, Reis made a strong impression on the people she met.
“In general she was a fun loving, outgoing person,” said Emily Tier, a sophomore psychobiology major who lived with Reis. “The first weekend she was here she found some kid who wanted to make cookies, and he has basically lived in our room since.”
Tier described a night when her entire suite went to Olive Garden at a time when there was no one else there, and Reis suddenly decided to start a race around the table on the rolling chairs, just for fun.
“It’s something we’re never going to forget,” she said.
When asked about the one thing she would always remember, Tier replied, “She had a really big smile that was always on.”
Marie Coralie Brutus, a sophomore industrial and systems engineering major who also lived with Reis, said that if she had to pick just one word to describe her it would be “joyful.”
“We would sit down and just talk until three in the morning about our personal lives,” Brutus said. “Just our families and how she really loved her family, especially her mom, brother and sister.”
According to Brutus, Reis had had an entire drawer in her room devoted only to chocolate and sweets. She would eat a piece every day while studying.
“We should have had more time together to get to know each other,” Brutus said.
J.C. Rienton, a sophomore mechanical engineering major who was friends with Reis, said that she reminded him and his friends of the value of friendship.
“It’s just that you also don’t typically find someone who’s beautiful inside and out,” he said. “She had a bright personality and we had a lot of inside jokes. She was outgoing and really funny. She was also a good listener.”
“Death is a part of life and I’m pretty sure I’ll see her someday and thank her for everything that she’s done in that short amount of time she had with us before parting,” Rienton added.