Ottawa family remembers daughter as 'ray of sunshine'

Emily Greenberg was a flutist, artist, singer, sister, daughter and best friend but her mother Cyndi describes her best as “a ray of sunshine.”

“She just had this energy where you couldn’t...” Cyndi said with a pause.

“Avoid it,” her stepfather Troy Zarwell added. “She’d put a smile on your face.”

“And she didn’t do it purposefully to be the center of attention,” Cyndi said. “She was just a ray of sunshine.”

Emily Greenberg, 16, died following a vehicle accident Friday morning south of the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Ottawa.

A public visitation is planned from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, at Ottawa High School where Emily attended school.

The family was thankful to the friends and family who have already reached out, many of whom are familiar with Emily’s kind heart and bright spirit.

Cyndi said Emily was a quiet baby at first, but it didn’t last long for her personality to begin to show.

“She was always observing everything and then when she hit (age) 3 and she didn’t stop talking,” Cyndi said with a smile. “Then this over-the-top personality just blossomed.”

One of her greatest passions was listening to and performing music, most notably playing the flute at Ottawa High School. Cyndi said she struggled at first when learning in roughly fourth grade but pushed through and honed her talents by practicing every day at home.

“The hardest thing is to get used to not hearing the sound of a flute playing in my house,” Cyndi said.

Her goal was to join The Ohio State University Marching Band after watching a performance on the internet in middle school. She was taken with the intricate shapes and images they would make on the field while moving and performing in unison.

Troy noted she played the ukulele for a while after hearing it used in 21 Pilots songs and performed to a standing ovation at a school talent show.

“She taught herself. She just started strumming and picked it up,” he said. “It was pretty neat (to see).”

She could do the same with a song where she’d be singing along to the lyrics by the end after only hearing it once.

Emily also had a passion for roller coasters after being encouraged to overcome her fears by her family. She also had a sense of fashion, which began at a young age.

“She was barely one,” Cyndi recalled with a laugh. “We’d walk by the shoe section and she’d see it and turn and just (scream).”

At 15 months old, Cyndi would have to stop and let Emily try on the pairs of boots that she liked. But they didn’t have to buy every pair, Emily was content to just ride with them in the cart.

She collected a number of sneakers and boots and also spent a lot of time with makeup, sometimes before going out with friends, such as her cousin Ahlora Sbarbaro and boyfriend Ronan Schmitt, and other times just to sit and watch a movie with her family.

Her brother Ashton Blumenthal said the two also liked to “team up against mom” growing up.

“Jokingly, obviously,” he added with a smile.

Emily would jump out and surprise Cyndi while Ashton played along and other times after coming home from work or errands Cyndi would find Emily waiting for her with a goofy face when she opened the door.

“She had the humor gene that ran in the family,” Ashton said. “Our thing was just sitting around and watching Vines (social media videos) and quoting (them).”

Cyndi said Emily was always the one to bring others up with warm and uplifting personality, and it was recognized by those that knew her.

Troy’s brother, Kyle, was looking for flowers to leave at the site of the accident as a memory of Emily when he came across what he felt was the perfect selection, “The Ray of Sunshine.”

“Because that fit her personality,” Troy said.