A family's full-circle story A family's full-circle story A family's full-circle story

There was nothing out of the ordinary about the UW sophomore sitting in a Ravenna café with her mom on a cool December day, enjoying a pastry and coffee. She proudly wore a Husky sweatshirt that belonged to her aunt, Lisa Marie Styer, ’86. But Liv Schiller never knew her aunt. Liv, who turns 20 on March 23, was born in 2006, and her aunt was killed in a plane crash that took the lives of 16 Huskies five years earlier—on Sept. 12, 2001.

As the tragedy occurred the day after 9/11, most people overlook that crash on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Lisa was among the many Husky fans who were enjoying a leisurely cruise to Florida to watch the Washington-Miami football game when she and 15 others went on a sightseeing flight.

So it was really meaningful when Liv decided to enroll at the UW and follow her aunt’s—and family’s—footsteps. “The UW is such an amazing school,” Liv says. “I love Seattle and get to be near home and family.” Her family is full of Huskies, including her mom, Sara Styer, and her mom’s siblings, Matt and Joe Styer and Mary Ramey, as well as her grandpa, Eugene Styer.

Even though she never met her aunt, Liv owns a lot of Lisa’s sweaters and jewelry. “It makes me happy to wear her things,” she says.

Lisa Styer (right) joined sorority sisters at the 1992 Rose Bowl. Her niece, Liv Schiller (left), wore the same sweatshirt for a UW Magazine photoshoot.

Majoring in environmental public health and working part-time in marketing for Dick’s Drive-In, Liv maintains a 4.0 grade-point average and is planning to study abroad next year. But she has other things on her mind. Liv has been a rock, helping care for her mom as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. Liv’s older brother, Ian, will graduate soon from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.

“Liv has handled everything with maturity and grace,” says her mom. “My parents are so grateful for and proud of Liv.”

See also: Huskies in our hearts