A Lansingburgh family is keeping their daughter’s memory alive with a scholarship fund.
Today would have been Danielle Marceline’s 21st birthday.
She died December 3, 2022, a day before her 18th birthday after she drowned while on a mother-daughter vacation in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She had been swimming with a friend when strong currents pulled her into the ocean. Her friend was brought safely to shore by lifeguards, but Marceline was unable to be saved. Her body was found around 1 a.m. the next day by a couple walking on the beach.
Her mom, Chris Marceline, has been raising money in the three years since her daughter’s death. The funding pool provides money to graduating seniors who are continuing their education. Since 2022, she has contributed thousands of dollars to students graduating from at Lasalle, Lansingburgh, and Catholic High School.
Danielle was a senior at Catholic High when she died. She had transferred there during COVID when Lansingburgh didn’t reopen for in-person classes.
“I wanted to give back to that community. You know, so many kids struggle in Lansingburgh don't really have great adult role models and stuff, and so I just tried to guide them with the same - I can't think of the word, like ideals, I guess, like as I tried with Danielle.”
Chris says Danielle lit up every room she entered and participated in so many extracurriculars including volleyball, basketball, dance, and travel sports. Chris says the scholarship supports students who wouldn’t necessarily earn academic scholarships. She says Danielle struggled in school, a B-average student, and had to work extra hard to get there. Chris says the scholarship is for students like Danielle.
“The people we've given it to in the past, they have gotten athletic scholarships and stuff, but also there for the people who don't. So, you know that still work really hard in school, still try to be an athlete, but there's no way that they're getting money for any of that. But they're good kids,” Marceline said. “They work really hard. They've overcome obstacles.”
Friends like Zoe Hunter say she remembers the exact moment she found out Danielle was gone.
“I got a phone call from my dad. And mind you, my dad doesn't call me - like it was, it was very weird, because I don't call my dad like I was, like, ‘Why is he calling me?’ Like something happened,” Hunter said. “Like, there, there's something weird that happened, and I have no idea what it is. And I answered the phone, and he was like, ‘You know how Danielle's in Florida?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And he was like, ‘Have you talked to your mom?’ And I was like, ‘No, like, what happened?’ And now I'm, like, pacing around the room, like, super scared. And she was like, ‘Well, she's missing.’ And when he said that, I was, like, really confused. And he was like, ‘She went in the water, and we, we don't know any further details.’ And I just remember breaking down, like, screaming and crying. I can't I, like, literally, just remember like, it was so, like, it's so vivid, and obviously all my friends are looking at me like, what happened? Like they have no idea. And my that was really it. And I just was crying for hours.”
Chris bought necklaces for several of Danielle’s friends, including Zoe, and placed Danielle’s ashes in a locket. Chris and her husband Edwin brought Danielle’s cremated remains home on the plane. Chris says she rarely takes hers off. Both Zoe and Chris say wearing the necklace makes them feel closer to Danielle.
“The only time I take it off, as if I take a shower, because I still have not really been able to swim or go in the water. Water since it happened,” Marceline said. “So, I used to love to swim, and definitely under the water, but I can't bring myself to do it. I can't even really watch anything on TV where people go under the water. It really for a long time. I also couldn't hear a helicopter. Every time I heard a helicopter, I would be like, on the floor, plugging my ears and, you know, curled up in a fetal position because the helicopter was flying around looking for so it was a lot to go through. But I know she's with me all the time. She sends me signs all the time like, oh man, one time at her our old house, her best friend that was with us in Florida, who almost died. She was with that with me, and we're just looking out the back to the backyard. All of a sudden, five blue jays were on the fence, and it was like, Holy crap. I barely ever see one blue jay, and now there's five sitting there.”
Both Zoe and Chris say community has been most important as they grieve.
“After my first night that I had to stay in the house by myself because Edwin had to travel for work, the neighborhood kids came over and hung out with me until like 12:30 at night because they didn't want me to be home by myself,” Chris said.
Chris and friends will celebrate what would have been Danielle’s 21st birthday tonight.
The scholarship fund currently sits around $1,300. Information to donate can be found
