Obituary: Molly May Baltzelle

Our beloved daughter, 18-year-old Molly May Baltzelle, of Cooper City, died in her sleep Saturday, December 6, 2014, in St. Augustine, where she was attending college.

She would want her friends and family to know that her death was due to heart failure and was accidental.

Born May 5, 1996, in Palatka, “our Cinco de Mayo baby,” Molly loved St. Augustine, where she lived for the first eight years of her amazing life. She attended R.B. Hunt Elementary School and loved the ocean, history and feel of the oldest city. As a toddler, she and her sisters would play at the Spanish well on Anastasia Island; make up whole worlds in tidal pools on sunny days; and she always seemed to catch the largest fish, most notably a legal grouper on a specially-rigged Mickey Mouse pole off Big Pine Key.

Molly was attending St. Johns River State College and planned to transfer to Flagler College and study photography and the arts. As a child, she always loved the campus, as well as walks on St. George Street on “Grandma days” to the candy store. She previously was a student at Cooper City High School and Sheridan Technical Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Molly loved rescuing animals, most lately Andy, our dog; and Lucifer (aka Kittycat), her kitten, who will now live with her sister, Katie, in South Florida. Among her many passions were caring for friends, and shopping at thrift shops for clothes and accessories. (She seriously looked like a movie star.) She also loved artists, Live Oak music festivals, photography and Archie comic books.

She is survived by her parents, Rebecca and Jim; sisters, Annie and Katie; nieces, Dahlia and Lily – both so special to her; other family members; and a world of friends she made so easily.

A family memorial service will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Plantation United Methodist Church, 1001 N.W. 70th Ave., Plantation, FL 33313. Molly loved roses and house plants, but she would appreciate donations to be made to any local humane society or the Betty Griffin House in St. Augustine.