Birth date: Oct 11, 2002 Death date: Feb 15, 2025
Jillian Marie Frank, age 22, our beloved daughter, sister, and friend passed away suddenly on February 15th in Gainesville, Florida. Jillian was a college student at the University of Florida and was incredibly driven in her scho Read Obituary
One year ago our family was tragically changed forever. Today, a small group of family and friends gathered to honor and remember you to share our love of you with stories and favorite memories. Jillian Marie, I miss you more than words can ever express and love even more could ever express. So many people miss you so very much. Hugs and love eternally for all our memories because you were taken from us all of us far too soon. 🦋🩶
Woke up this morning from a dream of a memory of you running around Tom Sawyer Island with Megan. Memories of both of you as you ran around the fort, up and down the stairs, in and out of the tunnels, and over all the bridges. I could hear your little girl giggles and feel the pure joy you would radiate. During this memory dream, all the love and pride Tommy and I feel about our girls was full in my heart. As I awoke I had the sensation to call you and laugh about these memories. However, reality came crashing back as I became fully awake and the horrible realization of the present resonated within me.
5 months today…I do not understand how somehow it feels like yesterday and that it has been 100 years of missing you at the same time. I miss everything about you especially your voice, laugh and all the warm, loving hugs!! I will forever tell stories of you everyday. Love you forever my sweet, cuddly, intelligent, talented, hilarious, baby angel Jillian. 🩶💔🫂
I think about you all the time Jillian. I miss you so much every single day. I talk to you and about you every day. I hope you hear me somehow.
I love this photo I took of you. I am so grateful for all the pictures I have of you. For all the memories we made. You are immortalized in them.
I will keep talking about you forever. My sweet, beautiful, kind, hilarious, compassionate, hardworking, talented, perfect best friend. Forever.
One month, no words can describe the hole left in our life by the loss of you. We love you always and forever Jillian. The pictures at your Celebration of Life were very intentionally chosen to show your love of all things to do with the arts, love of Disney and family time, love of Oliver (aka your son), love of Halloween and doing your makeup, love of spending time with your friends whether it was fun nights in or out, love of being a Gator, and love of Andres.
Every time that we spoke to you, you were so happy and truly living your best life with everything you did whether it was work, school, friends, or family. The love with which you spoke about all things going on in your life was palpable and we felt your joy in every conversation we had with you. We miss those conversation so much.
You were a person that loved with your whole heart for all who surrounded you. Jillian you have made a difference in this world with the loyalty and true love you gave freely to everyone who truly knew you and your light will live on forever.
Our baby angel, we will always speak of you, miss you, and forever love you every moment of every day. 💔💙🧡
I’ve had the pleasure of serving as one of Jillian’s direct supervisors at her jobs at UF RecSports. I thought it might be nice to share a little bit about her work here with us and what she has meant to our team.
I worked directly with Jillian in her role as a Campus Recreation Manager (RM), the highest level student leadership position that we offer. Jillian applied for this promotion last year as an opportunity to work with all of the different units within our department. During the interview process, I can specifically remember Jillian explaining that the number one thing that drew her to this job was the opportunity to make sure students in all of our different staff positions felt included and felt they belonged. For example, as a student working in one of our smaller spaces, like the pool or our other outdoor recreation spaces, it’s easy to feel like you are out on an island, and not a part of the group. Ever since Jillian was hired, this is the top feedback I receive about her- that she always takes the time to check in on every staff group, every facility, and make sure they know she is there for support. She has also gone out of her way to make sure those individuals are included or invited to things that happen outside of work.
Our team of RMs is quite small compared to some of our other RecSports teams with hundreds of staff members. Because there are only 8 of them, they are a tight-knit group. Our group immediately came together after hearing the news- we laughed, we cried, we shared our favorite stories or memories with Jillian, and we discussed ways we felt we could honor her moving forward. We all want to prioritize keeping her memory at the forefront and make sure her legacy is honored in the way she so deserves. Credit to the RM team for being the brains behind our ideas, but here are some of ways we are honoring her:
• First, our RM team agreed unanimously that we wanted to honor her as our 2024-2025 RM of the Year, one of the highest awards we give at our annual Student Staff Banquet (more commonly known as the “RECSPYs”). This will also ensure we are provided with a few moments to further honor her legacy at the event itself. The RM team also requested that we leave a chair open at their table for her, and we will make sure that happens.
• We are also looking at creating a small sticker that our staff can put on their nametags to remind them to keep the joy of Jillian with them on shift.
• We also developed a slide with photos of Jillian working each of her different positions within RecSports. This now circulates on the TVs in our different facilities. Our staff have loved seeing this up during their shifts. (That photo is below)
Again, I just thought it might be nice to share specifically about the impact she has undoubtedly made here at UF. I’ll always cherish the memories I have with Jillian. I’ll always remember the energy she brought, the joy she radiated, and her desire to make every person feel seen and heard. Jillian has left an incredible legacy and I know we are all better for having known her. She will always be a part of our UF RecSports family!
My beautiful niece Jillian. I have been struggling with what to say about you and how truly wonderful you were for the two weeks since your passing. In my mind, you are still this little girl who loved playing Disney Princess dress-up and treasured every single stuffed animal you came across. I adored you from the moment you were born and every moment of your 22 years. You were so sweet, kind, empathetic, caring and thoughtful. You were musically gifted, athletic, so smart, delightfully quirky, and hilarious. You were the only person I've ever met who understood sarcasm at the age of 3. I'm so grateful that I had the privilege to watch you grow up into the amazing and accomplished young woman you became, and to have been lucky enough to be loved by you. I'll miss you always.
Jillian was my baby cousin. She was beautiful, kind, funny, NERDY, athletic. I mean most people here know what an amazing swimmer she was. My children absolutely adore Jillian and Megan. When they are around I do not exist. And I got to have the perfect experience of being the cool older cousin to this remarkable woman. Every time I came into town the excitement we all had to be together was contagious. We would talk about everything (school, clothes, books, music, politics, boys). I will never forget Jillian trying to teach us how to do the Cups choreography from Pitch Perfect, and how comically terrible we were at it. On one of our many Disney trips together, running through Magic Kingdom at closing to get my son on Pirates of the Caribbean just one more time. Having bubbling cocktails at Sugar in Hard Rock Casino with Uncle Steve, beach days, jersey trips, Florida trips. Our family has so many memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. For such a a bright light to be gone so soon is a heart ache that can't be forgotten. It’s like we lost a piece of our hearts. I ask everyone to please send us the strength to get through this. Because Jillian would want that. She would want joy to still be a part of our lives. I will miss you always cuz and know we will be together again one day.
Jillian was a truly kind person and I'm so glad that I met her. This video is from one of our many lunches together in high school. I still remember the first conversation we ever had was in the cafeteria about the show Riverdale. That conversation led to the start of many more silly conversations and memories. I will cherish them all forever 🤍
Jillian is one of the first friends I met Freshman year at UF. Alyssa introduced me to her and the three of us made a lot of fun memories. One time we were hanging out in Alyssa and Jillian’s room in East Hall and Jillian went to shower in the communal bathroom. Alyssa and I decided it would be a funny prank to go bang on the shower stall door while Jillian showers. The two of us went to the bathroom and saw Jillian’s robe outside the door. No one else was in the bathroom so it was a perfect opportunity. We banged on the stall door and ran from the bathroom. Alyssa and I sat back in their room giggling while we waited for Jillian to come back from the bathroom. She came back but acted like everything was normal with no indication that something odd happened while she was in the shower. Alyssa and I started asking her questions about how her shower was to see if she would mention anything. Eventually, Jillian said she showered in the other bathroom down the hall. Alyssa and I looked at each other in fear as we thought we just terrorized someone random in the bathroom. After a few minutes of us freaking out, Jillian laughed and admitted it was her we scared and that she was just simply pranking us back. Jillian really got us good. I will remember her humor and cherish the memories we got to make together.
It is not easy to find the right words when somebody so special leaves us too soon. Even though we hadn’t had the pleasure of knowing her for very long, we fell in love with her and realized how fortunate we were for having her in our son’s life. We are thankful for all the happiness that Jill brought our family, our trips with her to Orlando, and then Miami were a blessing and we will never forget. She quickly became part of our family, even our dog Bella cried when Jill and Andres went back to Gainesville, something that she doesn’t do often. Jillian will always be present in our hearts.
