Marissa Alexandria McLeod, 17, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. She was born at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto on May 21, 1992 and moved to Ripon when she 7 years old. She was a senior attending Ripon High School, where she excelled academically. She maintained a 4.29 GPA while also being highly involved in sports and school activities. Marissa enjoyed writing poetry, cheerleading, competitive dance, and spending time with friends and family. The summer of her junior year, Marissa was invited to attend a summer program at Harvard University, where she hoped to one day attend school.

Marissa cared deeply about helping others in her community and was actively involved in developing programs and resources for those in need. She began a program that gathered used formal dresses to redistribute to girls who were not able to purchase their own prom dresses. She was extremely compassionate and had an inherent desire to help those in need.

Survivors include her mother and stepfather, Melinda and Chad Shaw, and her father and his girlfriend, Robert McLeod and Amanda Ragsdale, as well as her stepsister, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Funeral services were Monday, Dec. 7 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Modesto. Online guest book is available at www.marissamcleod.com.

Donations can be made at Oak Valley Community Bank in memory of Marissa McLeod.

The Escalon (Calif.) Times

Dec. 9, 2009