Naval Academy's Dickmann, 19, is mourned

Mourners converged on a Chester County high school yesterday to remember 19-year-old Kristen Marie Dickmann as a talented athlete, an inspirational role model, and an aspiring Navy pilot.

"This is a time for us to remember the laughter that was, that is, that will forever be Kristen," said Unionville-Chadds Ford Superintendent Sharon Parker, who led the hour-and-20-minute service.

Dickmann, a freshman at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., was found unconscious in her room May 5 and rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. After an autopsy failed to identify the cause of death, officials ordered additional tests, which could take weeks to complete.

Yesterday, about 100 midshipmen in starched whites joined hundreds of Dickmann's relatives, friends, teachers and teammates to pay her tribute at Unionville High, where she graduated in 2007.

Chris Salko, one of her Valley Forge volleyball club coaches, told the more than 700 mourners: "She made coaching not a job, but a joy. If it was good for the team, it was good for Kristen."

Outside the gymnasium, where the service was held, photos and sports awards lined several banquet tables.

"She was always smiling - or making faces," said Fourth Class Chris Memminger, pointing to a photo taken on induction day last June in Annapolis.

Memminger, 19, of Jacksonville, Fla., said the picture, which features Dickmann in a solemn procession mugging for the camera, typified her irrepressible spirit.

"She was giving her parents a wink with her tongue out as if to say, 'I'm OK,' " Memminger said.

His friend's difficulty keeping a straight face sometimes got her into trouble.

"People always told her she had the worst bearing in the company," Memminger said, adding that she was a favorite nonetheless.

Ali Koenig, 18, of King of Prussia, played volleyball with Dickmann through the Valley Forge volleyball club.

"She was the kind of person you aspired to be like," said Koenig, chuckling at the memory of Dickmann running into the bleachers during practice to make a shot. "She always gave 100 percent."

Dickmann, the daughter of Carrie and Doug Dickmann of Avondale, played varsity volleyball for four years at Unionville, making all-state her senior year. She was one of only two freshmen on Navy's 2007 volleyball roster.

Before saluting the casket himself, one of her high school teachers, Marine veteran Joseph Herman, said of the woman who dreamed of flying military cargo planes:

"Kristen would have been an officer that the men and women would want to salute."

The funeral will be held today at the chapel of the Naval Academy. Burial will follow on the academy grounds.