By Marc Raimondi
“We have so many pictures of her,” said Terrence Grogan, Kaitlyn's father. “We can't find one without her smiling.”Grogan, an 18-year-old Bayside resident, who was in Florida for a club soccer tournament, was killed Friday night in a traffic accident. The senior at Archbishop Molloy HS in Briarwood was crossing Tampa's busy Dale Mabry Highway near the team's hotel with teammate Brittany Gruber, of West Islip, L.I., when both were struck by a 2006 Acura around 10 p.m.Grogan was pronounced dead at the scene. Gruber was in a coma after the incident, but is now resting in stable condition at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, according to the St. Petersburg Times. The car's driver has not been charged, but the investigation into the crash was continuing.Grogan's funeral mass was scheduled to be held Friday morning at Sacred Heart church on 38th Avenue in Bayside at 11 a.m.Grogan graduated from Sacred Heart elementary school and worked part time at The Cheesesteak Factory on Bell Boulevard in Bayside. She was a teenager who enjoyed sports, science, shopping and painting around the house with her father. Over 900 friends have joined a memorial group on the social networking Web site, Facebook.com, entitled “Katy Grogan, An Angel.””She was just the type of person who helped everybody,” said her father, Terrence. “She was just the greatest kid. I never had a problem with her. People want to talk about beauty on the outside. I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful she was on the inside.”The FC New York United Tigers, based out of Bayside, were in Florida for a college showcase event. The team continued playing over the weekend, wearing Grogan's name and her No. 33 on their sleeves.The team won its division. The Tigers made it all the way to the Score at the Shore semifinals Sunday afternoon.”They said it was something that Katy wanted them to do,” said Saul Cabarcas, the team's coach. “I'm so proud of those girls. I thought halfway through they were going to pull out.”It was going to be Grogan's final soccer tournament so she could concentrate more on academics, her father said. Her dream was to be an occupational therapist – “because she wanted to help people,” he said – but she was still deciding between that and anatomy and physiology, a subject she adored at Molloy. Playing soccer in college was also a consideration.Cabarcas, whose daughter Giselle witnessed the accident, and his players propped up a poster with Grogan's picture near their bench during games that read, “You'll play in our hearts forever.”Opposing teams at the Florida tournament held donations and Terrence Grogan plans to use the money for a scholarship fund in his daughter's name for students coming from Sacred Heart to Molloy.”She was such a giving person,” her father said. “She wouldn't want the flowers. She would want someone to get a good education.”Grogan was a TimesLedger CHSAA All-Queens Honorable Mention selection this past fall for her play on the Molloy girls' soccer team, which went to its league's championship game.”Katy was a wonderful, wonderful player, a dedicated team player,” said Cabarcas, who coached her on the Bayside Tigers for three years. “She was someone who would take the shirt off her back for another player. She was an angel and now she's gone.”Christina Loccisano, Grogan's teammate at Molloy, remembers her as a warm, caring girl who was “always smiling, always happy.” Loccisano has athletic asthma, and whenever she would run to the sidelines for relief, Grogan was there for a helping hand.”She'd come up to me and say, 'How are you feeling?'” Loccisano said through tears.Terrence Grogan and Kaitlyn's family were thankful for the outpouring of support from friends. Terrence said that more than 30 people had come to their house by 2 a.m. Sunday morning to pass along condolences.Donations can be sent to Terrence Grogan at 218-18 38 Ave., Bayside, NY 11361.Reach Associate Sports Editor Marc Raimondi by e-mail at mraimondi@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
