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'She Was Always Kind': 19-Year-Old College Student From Capital Region Dies After Cancer Battle

Friends and family are mourning the loss of a beloved college student from the region following her death from cancer.

Sophia John.

Sophia John.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Sophia John

Saratoga County resident Sophia John, of Ballston Spa, died Monday, Dec. 18, at the age 19 after a short battle with leukemia, according to her obituary.

John graduated from Shenendehowa High School in 2022 and was a sophomore at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she was majoring in corporate finance and accounting.

At Bentley, she was a member of the Zeta Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi and held a spot in its recruitment team.

Relatives described John as an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan who also loved visiting the Saratoga Racetrack since she was a baby.

“A passion for downhill skiing, Sophia also enjoyed the ocean, particularly Grand Cayman, boating on Lake George with her dad, and snuggling with her dogs, Dublin, Delilah, and Oscar,” her obituary said.

John’s longtime friend, Quinn Weaver, remembered her as “such a blessing to this Earth.”

“She was always kind. Always,” Weaver wrote on her online memorial. “There was just no one like her and there never will be. She really was always an angel, way too good for this Earth.”

Writing in her obituary, relatives thanked the doctors and nurses at Albany Medical Center’s ICU department “for the care and compassion they showed to Sophia and her family during this difficult time.”

“It will never be forgotten,” they said.

John is survived by her parents Lisa and Mark John; sister Isabella; and her twin sister Ava.

Funeral services were held Friday, Dec. 22 at Corpus Christi Church in Round Lake.

Donations can be made to the Sophia M. John Memorial Scholarship Fund, which will help Shenendehowa female graduates planning to major in finance, or to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

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