A Clarksville family gathered recently to remember a young woman described as friendly and spirited, who exhibited tenacity while battling disease.

Amanda Josephine Post, 15, died May 17 after a roughly 2 1/2-year battle against acute myeloid leukemia.

Her mother, Cheryl Post, said Amanda touched many lives.

"She was a very outgoing girl, very social," Cheryl Post said. "She was just one of those kids that just drew people to her."

Several hundred people attended a memorial service May 21 at St. Louis Catholic Church, in Clarksville, and even more have expressed their grief online.

A Facebook group page created in her memory, "Amanda Post Will Never Be Forgotten," has nearly 1,100 members and includes a video tribute and a somber piano ballad in her honor written by one of her friends.

"Always keep that smile on your face. We will never, ever forget you," one friend posted in a message on the site.

Amanda was born at Howard County General Hospital, in Columbia, April 24, 1994. She attended Glenelg Country School and Folly Quarter Middle School before becoming a student at River Hill High School, where she was in the ninth grade.

In addition to excelling academically, Amanda performed in school plays, took dance lessons and played soccer and ice hockey.

She was a member of the junior varsity girls soccer team and played on the Lady Diplomats, a team in the Soccer Association of Columbia/Howard County.

She was diagnosed with leukemia in November 2006 at age 12 and began undergoing treatments at the Children's Hospital at Sinai, in Baltimore. She went into complete remission and ended her treatments in June 2007, her mother said.

Amanda was not one to be slowed down by her illness. Within weeks of her remission in 2007, she was back on a soccer field scoring goals for her team, her mother said.

"It was remarkable," Post said. "She had aggressive chemotherapy, yet she bounced right back."

After her illness returned in October, Amanda had to withdraw from school, and in January, she received a bone marrow transplant from an anonymous donor, according to family members. Complications associated with the transplant and her leukemia led to her death, her mother said.

Through it all, Amanda stayed in touch with her friends through visits and Facebook, and struck up new friendships with many people at the hospital. Her mother said her family is establishing a memorial fund in her name.

"We just felt that she would want something done that would have an impact on other people," Post said. "She was a remarkable girl. ... She just touched so many people."

Amanda was preceded in death by her grandparents, Edward and Claudia Post; and by a cousin, Adam Reed.

She is survived by her parents, Robert and Cheryl Post, of Clarksville; her brother, Samuel Post, of Clarksville; and her grandmother, Patricia Potochnik; along with extended family.

Memorial donations may be made to the Amanda Post Memorial Fund, The Columbia Foundation, 10227 Wincopin Circle, Suite G-15, Columbia, MD 21044, or online at www.columbiafoundation.org, designating with "Amanda Post Memorial Fund."

The fund will be used for scholarship programs and other charitable initiatives in her name.

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