Courtesy of Sandra Fernelius Amanda Shoemaker Amanda Shoemaker lit up a room with her smile.

Her toothy, sunny grin is one of the first things people noticed about the blondehaired, green-eyed girl, and it is something her friends and family will never forget.

For this reason, Shoemaker's best friend since childhood, Lindsey McClellan, nicknamed her "Sparkle Dot," and the name just stuck.

In the days following the 17-year-old Simi High senior's death, Shoemaker's mother, Sandra Fernelius, clung to the memory of her daughter's radiant smile.

Shoemaker was struck and killed by an Amtrak train April 28 while walking on the railroad tracks at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura. According to sheriff's reports, she never heard the train coming.

"I woke up this morning and my thoughts were, 'She will always be our 'Sparkle Dot,' and she will always sparkle in our lives,'" Fernelius said last Friday.

Friend Ali Skinner, 17, said photos on Shoemaker's MySpace or Facebook pages revealed her inner "goofball" and energetic nature.

"She was hyper, and she would sing randomly, and she was always smiling," said Skinner, a junior at Simi High who grew up in the Mormon church with Shoemaker. "Everyone really liked her. She was really sweet."

More than this, Skinner remembers an extremely loyal friend who touched perhaps more people than she even knew.

"She affected everyone," she said. "It's amazing."

"She had a huge smile," said Sarita Shoemaker, Amanda's stepmother. "And it wasn't like the type of smile that was cheesy. It was with a sparkle in her eyes and love you could feel from her."

Saying goodbye

The impact of Shoemaker's short life was evident Monday morning as hundreds of mourners packed the sanctuary at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Township Avenue in Simi.

A line of people waiting to sign the guest book stretched from the front door to the parking lot. Many of the attendees were members of the SVHS track team, wearing colorful ribbons on their shirts in memory of their former teammate.

Once inside, Shoemaker's family, friends, teachers and coaches passed through a foyer full of photos and keepsakes from the young girl's life.

Speaking to a crowded church that, despite having chairs pushed up against the walls, had people standing in the back of the room or listening from the foyers, Bishop Dirk Heim commented that the turnout was much larger than expected.

Shoemaker's father was also taken aback by the sheer number of people.

"So this is what Amanda's village looks like. That's pretty awesome," said a tearful Randy Shoemaker, who jokingly added, "She would definitely tell me to suck it up if she was around."

At the funeral, those closest to Shoemaker remembered a busy, motivated girl who was active in her school and church and who for four years was always on time for her 6 a.m. seminary class.

"She was cheery and bubbly and always wanted to do good," said Andrea McClellan, the mother of her best friend. "Amanda was a great example of what a daughter should be like and about what a daughter of God meant."

A straightA student, Shoemaker played volleyball, ran track and field, and participated in student leadership. She had recently discovered a passion for filmmaking through a video production class she'd added to her schedule senior year.

Shoemaker had planned to attend Brigham Young UniversityIdaho where, because of her interest in forensic science, she wanted to study biology.

Outside of school, Shoemaker enjoyed dancing and gymnastics—so much so that she worked part-time at Imagymnation in Simi.

She had an insatiable appetite for both knowledge and food—in particular, Taco Bell and Cold Stone's Cookie Doughn't You Want Some ice cream with no chocolate chips.

Her stepfather Bart Fernelius said she was adventurous and loved trying new things, including boating, waterskiing, wakeboarding, snowboarding and learning to shoot a gun.

Sarita Shoemaker said she simply misses hearing her stepdaughter sing.

"I still don't know how you knew every word to every song on the radio," she said.

Those who knew Shoemaker take comfort in remembering her devotion to her faith.

"An important thing that helps me get through this is she was not afraid to die and she looked to her work to be done in the afterlife," Sandra Fernelius told the Simi Valley Acorn before the funeral.

Bart Fernelius agreed.

"She understood the Lord's eternal plan," he said at the service. "She had an inner peace . . . and she wanted to align her life with righteousness."

Shoemaker was laid to rest at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth. At the cemetery, Sandra Fernelius said she was able to find some peace in her loss.

"She was a gift to me from my heavenly father, and it's been a privilege to be her mother," she said, "and now it's time for me to return her to him."

Shoemaker is survived by her parents and stepparents and her younger sister, Morgan. She is also survived by five stepsibling.