Molly Sheehan pursued many interests while at Central Michigan University — filmmaking, writing, improvisational comedy and psychology, among other things — though her friends will remember her best for her kindness, intelligence and creativity.

Sheehan was killed in a car crash Nov. 23 in Montcalm County, while she was driving back to CMU after Thanksgiving Break. The Iron River junior was 21-years-old.

Sheehan was born in Libertyville, Illinois on Nov. 5, 1997 to Michael Sheehan and Jill Ollila. Growing up in Iron River, Sheehan was an active member of a local business club, and won a statewide award through the American Association of University Women.

A passionate "film buff," Sheehan originally came to CMU to study broadcasting, though she switched her major to Family Studies. She decided a steadier income would help her writing career, said her boyfriend, Mount Pleasant senior Christopher DeLorenzo.

He met Sheehan two years ago, when they both joined the After Hours improvisational comedy group. Though she was new to improv, DeLorenzo remembers being impressed by her skill and dedication to her performances.

After a year of friendship, the pair began dating in April 2018, and remained a couple until her death.

"We both had a lot of respect for each other — we enjoyed each other's humor and company," DeLorenzo said. "My first impression of her was being impressed by her abilities as performer and creator. As I got to know her and talk to her more, I really started to realize how deep of a thinker she was."

In addition to DeLorenzo, Sheehan found many of her closest friends through After Hours. For Berkley junior Jordan McGee, what began as a casual friendship in the spring semester of 2018 would grow into something much closer the following fall.

"(Sheehan) just had this amazing talent onstage," McGee said. "She was able to light up a room, and light up any stage she was on. (She had) some of the craziest talent I've ever seen come out of a 21-year-old.

"I found a great amount of empathy in her, and I'm also a very empathetic person, so we were able to help each other in tough times."

If Chesterfield senior and fellow After Hours member Josh Palmer could describe Sheehan in one word, it would be "passionate."

"There was never a half-assed conversation with her — you got 100 percent of her attention," Palmer said.

At the time of her death, Sheehan had lived with Rockwood junior Amy Miller for two years, first in Lexington Ridge and then in The Forum Apartments. The two last communicated online at 3 a.m. on Nov. 23 — 12 hours before the crash — excitedly chatting about the television show "Steven Universe."

"(Sheehan) would like to be remembered as someone who loved and cared for everybody she met," Miller said. "She'd want us to remember her as a really good friend and great improviser, and someone who had a lot going for her in life."

Sheehan's greatest passion was for reading and writing, and she planned to dedicate her life to becoming a professional writer. DeLorenzo described her as a "voracious" reader of all kinds of literature, with a special place in her heart for young adult novels.

On Nov. 23, DeLorenzo received one last text from Sheehan right before she began her drive back to school — a photo of the book "The Master and Margarita," which she had just bought and was excited to read, DeLorenzo said.

She wrote many short stories, taking inspiration from many different writers and styles of prose, DeLorenzo said. One of the final stories she wrote — titled "Best Wishes on This Wonderful Journey" — will be published in the Fall 2018 edition of Central Review.

Shortly after her death, DeLorenzo revisited a Central Michigan Life article centered around Sheehan published in April 2017. Part of a series of stories about the religious beliefs of students on campus, the article gave Sheehan an opportunity to share her experiences as a "born-again atheist," as well as her thoughts on an afterlife.

“To me, I don’t ever get the sense that life is meaningless,” Sheehan said in the article. “It’s something more like, ‘I better do what I can now.’ Eventually, I won’t be able to do anything anymore, so I better soak it up now.”

Sheehan is survived by her father Michael Sheehan; mother Jill Ollila and stepfather Mick Ollila; maternal grandparents Bruce and Patricia Anderson, and Kay and Reuben Ollila and stepsister Aili Ollila, along with several aunts, uncles and cousins. She is preceded in death by her paternal grandparents George and Dorris Sheehan, and her stepfather Girard Orvis.

A private family memorial service will take place near the end of the month.

Jill Ollila contributed to this story.