NITRO, WV (WOWK) – It was a very somber night for all those who knew Elizabeth O’Leary Wednesday as they gathered to shine a light on her life, just as she was a light in so many of theirs.

“All she wanted to do was put a smile on somebody’s face. There were so many things that she wanted to share with the world, and it got cut too short,” Elizabeth O’Leary’s friend Audrey Moles says before the candlelight vigil.

It’s been three days since O’Leary passed away and many of her friends say it still doesn’t seem real.

Last year at this time she was preparing to graduate at the top of her class from nitro high school. Her former classmates gathered at her alma mater to share stories and remember her bright smile.

“It fills all of our hearts with joy just to see how many lives Liz actually impacted,” Moles says in response to the crowd of people that filled the stadium.

She was studying at WVU and had dreams of becoming a mechanical engineer. Her close friends say this was a dream she was more than capable of achieving, and she would have done it with a smile.

A bright light is gone for many in this community, but it’s one that these friends say will never be forgotten.