Heather Greer was remembered by a teammate on her Harford County rec softball team as being "shy" until she showed up on the playing field, and then she would become very outgoing because of her love for sports.
The 14-year-old Pylesville girl died Thursday after she was hit by a car while crossing Route 136 in northern Harford County, Maryland State Police said.
Heather was a student at North Harford Middle School, where her principal writes she was "very well liked."
Heather was struck in the 2200 block of Harkins Road (Route 136) shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday.
Maryland State Police troopers responded to the scene and, according to a news release from the Bel Air Barrack, ordered a Medevac to fly Heather to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
She died at the hospital "as a result of injuries sustained during impact," according to the news release.
State police in the news release said Heather "attempted to cross the road," when she was struck by a 2009 Toyota Highlander driven by James Landerkin, 34, of Pylesville, who was driving south on Route 136, just prior to the diagonal intersection with Amos Mill and West Heaps roads, when the accident occurred.
Route 136 was closed for about two hours while troopers investigated the accident, state police said.
A Facebook page, "RIP Heather Greer Best 2nd Baseman Ever," has been started in Heather's memory. The page had 122 members as of 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Megan Hebden, 12, a Jarrettsville resident and creator of the Facebook group, knew Heather through playing softball with her for "a few years," she said Friday.
"She was, like, always shy, but when she went to softball we would always talk a lot," Megan said.
Megan and Heather played on the softball team, Jarrettsville Orange, she said. An obituary from J. J. Hartenstein Mortuary, Inc., confirmed Heather's love for sports, reporting that Heather played softball, basketball and soccer, as well as participated in kayaking, snowboarding and boating.
Karl Wickman, principal of North Harford Middle School, wrote in an email Monday that Heather was also a member of the schools Peer Helper Program, where she was a "proud representative of the school."
Heather, he also wrote, was "very well liked" by teachers and peers and will be missed by the school community.
"The words that Heather's teachers consistently use to describe her are 'sweet, willing to help and easy to like'," he wrote.
Heather is survived by her parents, Jesse and Tina Greer, of Pylesville; a half-sister, Jessica Greer, of Elkridge; and her grandparents, John and Heidi Salser, of Havre de Grace, and Lois Greer, of Sparks. She was predeceased by a grandfather, the late Jesse Greer.
Her father, Jesse Greer, also said Heather loved sports and the outdoors, as well as animals.
"She loved animals, all living things," Jesse Greer said Tuesday. "I think if she could have had one of every animal she would have been happy."
As it was, Heather had two dogs, two turtles and several chickens, he said.
His daughter was also a very "selfless person," Jesse Greer added.
"She was always happy, always smiling," he said. "She just would do anything for anybody."
In her 14 years, too, Heather was able to travel around the world with her family, Jesse Greer added. The family went to Germany and Alaska two times each, as well as several cruises to the Caribbean.
Each time she took a friend, Greer said, and she always had a friend over at their house too.
"She wanted to be at home," he said. "She would rather have her friends come here so she could be with us and them, rather than go to their house."
The feeling was mutual, too, as Jesse Greer said, "we planned our world around her so we could include her in everything we did."
Heather "loved" going to the firehouse with her father, sister Jessica Greer wrote in an email Tuesday.
"Heather also loved volunteering at Norrisville Fire [Company] with our father who is a member there," Jessica Greer wrote.
Matt Tyrrell, a first fire sergeant at the volunteer fire company, has started a second Facebook group, "Memories of Heather Greer," which as of 11 a.m. on Tuesday had 126 members.
Viewings will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 3, at J. J. Hartenstein Mortuary of Stewartstown, Pa., from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., and Thursday, Aug. 4, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Norrisville Recreation Center.
Heather's funeral service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at the recreation center.
State police at the Bel Air Barrack said the accident that killed Heather remains under investigation.
Heather's death was the 15th on Harford County highways this year and the fifth during July.