Amy L. Lakatos was a prayer warrior.
Whenever a problem arose, the 20-year-old health education junior was the first person to shed light on the situation.
Chaplain of the UF chapter of Sigma Phi Lambda, Lakatos traveled to Texas last spring to attend her Christian sorority's retreat. But upon arriving to the airport in Tampa, she and her sorority sisters found their flight had been canceled.
"In the middle of the airport, we just grabbed hands and prayed," Samantha Wright, secretary of the sorority and family, youth and community sciences junior, said in a phone interview.
"She [Lakatos] was not shy at all - she wanted everyone else to know she loved Christ, and she wanted everyone else to love Christ, too."
Lakatos, a Type 1 diabetic, died in her sleep Sunday morning. An ardent and practiced Christian, she used her health condition to fuel her passion for her major, health, and for helping others, her friends and family said.
More than 100 people gathered in a room on the second floor of the Reitz Union on Tuesday evening to share stories about Lakatos in a memorial service.
One by one, Lakatos' sorority sisters and friends from her high school, Calvary Christian Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, stood at the podium reciting Bible verses that either they themselves thought exemplified Lakatos or ones that Lakatos herself preferred.
UF President Bernie Machen also attended the memorial service.
"We love and treasure our students here at the university," Machen told Ronnie and Bob Lakatos, Lakatos' parents, at the service. "I would only say thank you for sharing your daughter with us, and we all mourn your loss."
Lakatos also was a member of UF Campus Crusade for Christ, attended First Assembly of God in Gainesville and worked at the Arredondo Cafe on campus. During the summer, she worked as a lifeguard for the City of Ft. Lauderdale and the Lauderhill Parks and Recreation Department.
Public relations senior Raychel Manko, president of Sigma Phi Lambda, grew closer to Lakatos when Lakatos was elected chaplain. She recalled a time during the sorority's recruitment week when Amy requested a fruit and veggie platter in addition to the event's junk food. She said Lakatos encouraged her and their sorority sisters to live healthy lifestyles, too.
"I would show up to the racquet club and she would always be in line with one of our other sisters, ready to do Zumba," Manko said. "You associate the gym with her."
Friends also remember Lakatos for her optimism, reliability and sincere love of life.
Wright recalled another time during their sorority's spring retreat when she and Lakatos went to a prairie to pray.
"Right before we sat down at a bench in this prairie, she kind of leaned over me and whispered in my ear," Wright said. "She asked, ‘Could I keep my eyes open to look at it? Because it's so beautiful. She wanted to talk to God and see what God created at the same time."
Ronnie Lakatos, Amy's mother, spoke Tuesday at the podium beside her husband and daughter, Christine. The three stood in front of the overflowed room of people and beside easels set up with photo collages of Amy and her friends and family.
"She glorified Christ in her life," Ronnie Lakatos said. "She is now perfected and complete."
