Less than two minutes into this world, Sofia turned her head, and her eyes met mine. I spoke to her. She did not look away. I couldn’t if I wanted to. She was our first. She made me a Daddy and my wife a Mommy. There was a love so large it hurt, and it began at that gaze.
That day was August 6, 2006. She was delivered to her mother and me, but in the hands of God. As strong as her bond was with her mother and me, her relationship with our Savior was even more. With Him by her side, Sofia entered eternal life on September 21, 2014.
She loved God, and she loved her Mommy, Daddy and Sissy. Early on, her mother and I realized that Sofia didn’t just feel happiness. It filled her from the bottom of her feet to the top of her head. Her emotions were large. She smiled with her whole face and laughed with her entire body. Almost two years apart, to the day, we welcomed her sister, Lila. We captured in a picture the first time she held her sister when we all came home. The joy poured out of her and you could see it. They became best friends. Lila is her number one bud.
She loved God, she loved her Mommy, Daddy and Sissy, and she loved her Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. They were her people. When she learned to utter each one of their names, she repeated it over and over following them like a shadow. She wanted to emulate each of them in their own special ways. She had their backs and she knew they had hers. They were her heroes. They were her people.
She loved God, she loved her Mommy, Daddy and Sissy, she loved her Cousins, Aunts and Uncles, but her feelings for her Grandma, Grandpa, Mama and Papa were unmatched. They were home to Sofia. The peak of happiness and definition of safe. Her heart was at its fullest with them. She recognized the fields, trees and buildings from her house to theirs. Her anticipation would grow stronger with every landmark she recognized. There was no better place to her.
Never did a soul take more from life nor leave a larger impression in eight short years. Life was bright and full, and she wanted to take it all in. It was hers to decorate, and she painted it with many colors. She wanted to be an artist with a back-up career as a magician, fashion designer or pop star, and spent many hours in pursuit of that dream. She expressed herself in colors and words, painting and writing stories. Always searching for a chuckle, she kept joke books in her bed to memorize or share a quick laugh with us before she rested. Some she wrote herself.
Sofia Grace Komp was many things, but those who knew her were drawn to her tenderness. Her heart was big and she had tremendous compassion and empathy for people. She felt others’ happiness as well as others’ pain. She was touched by God and delivered as an Angel on earth. She understood what was important: God, Family, Love and Kindness, and she shared it with everyone. She was a gift.
Sofia Grace Komp, 8 years old, was born to Brody Robert and Jessica Dawn (Quartuccio) Komp on August 6, 2006, in South Bend, Indiana. Sofia lived in South Bend until several years ago, when she moved with her family to Carmel, Indiana. Sofia passed away on September 21, 2014, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sofia was a member of North View Community Church in Carmel, Indiana, and was a second grade student at Prairie Trace Elementary School.
In addition to her parents, Brody and Jessica Komp, Sofia is survived by her sister, Lila. She is also survived by her maternal grandparents, Jack and Linda Quartuccio, her paternal grandparents, Gregory and Linda Komp, her maternal great grandparents, Rosemary Goff and Jim and Norene Quartuccio, and her paternal great-grandmother, Frances Mrozinski. Sofia is survived by aunts and uncles, Paul and Kelly Lillig, Laura Quartuccio and Trevor Carlson, Sean and Melissa Healy, David and Holli Allway, Kelly and Nadia Komp, and cousins, Emma, Aidan and Alex Healy, Tallon and Addison Allway, Ava and Zoe Komp, and Lucy and Paul Lillig.
Funeral services will take place at 3 pm Saturday, September 27, at Essling Funeral Home in LaPorte with Rev. Kurt Brodbeck, pastor of North View Community Church of Carmel, officiating. Friends may call from noon until 3 p.m. on Saturday prior to the funeral.
Memorial contributions may be made to the family; Sofia’s family plans to fund a scholarship in Sofia’s memory.
Messages of condolence may be posted below on WNLP, as well as at www.esslingfuneralhome.com.