Kathryn Leigh Thurgaland
May 12, 2002 – October 10, 2020
BECAUSE OF YOU, WE KNOW WHAT LOVE IS.
Our bright and shining star on earth has been called home to heaven for all to see.
Her smile and personality lit up everything and everyone around her.
You’ll find her in the day moon, flowers, butterflies, and any time you have your eyes and mind open.
Brief Bio
Kayleigh grew up in Ocklawaha, starting her education off at Blessed Trinity in Ocala then continuing and graduating from The Villages Charter Schools, class of 2020. She was an active member of Blessed Trinity Church in Ocala and then Immaculate Heart of Mary in Candler. Within her first month of college, September 2020, she was designated Vice President of Turning Point USA. Kathryn attended Flagler College in St. Augustine from August 2020 until her passing.
​
Passionate about everything, Kathryn was curious, determined (stubborn at times); a remarkably brave, talented, intelligent and VIBRANT young woman with the biggest and brightest smile you’ve ever seen. Full of life! Kathy was on a continuous path of self discovery, exploring her passions, trying new things, honestly evaluating her skills and values, and not afraid to ask the hard questions.
​
Always dancing, singing, twirling, hugging, and loving. She shared her love and loved the unlovable. She literally danced like no one was watching. The most down-to-earth, free-spirited angel who always had a smile on her face and laughter in her heart. Kayleigh is the most BEAUTIFUL, kind-hearted and wonderful person that you would ever meet. Kathy was the person you wanted to know, the person you would gravitate to and she welcomed everyone!
How She Died
Kathryn Leigh Thurgaland (Kayleigh, Kathy, Kay-Kay) of Ocklawaha, Florida, passed from this life and onto the next on October 10th, 2020. She was 18 years old; an angel on earth and now an angel in heaven.
She was a buckled and sleeping passenger in a vehicle crash Saturday morning and died on impact. Dustin Colgan (age 19) had been at the wheel of a red sedan at 7:50 a.m. traveling northbound on U.S. 301 near County Road 472 (Rainey Trail) at a high rate of speed while on his cell phone. The driver lost control of the sedan, it traveled over the center median and into the southbound lanes of U.S. 301 where it collided with the front of a white pickup. Dustin Colgan also died at the scene of the crash. The driver and passenger of the pickup survived with injuries. All four people (two from the truck) involved in the crash had been wearing seat belts.
​
View her Funeral Mass at Saint Timothy's
(The ceremony begins about 25 minutes in)
​
News articles about the crash:
​
https://vaughanpa.com/sumter-co-fl-double-fatality-crash-on-us-301/