ONTARIO — Those who knew Rachel Fagan described her as caring, funny and a fiercely devoted wife and mother of three.
Since her unexpected passing Friday, the community has rallied around her family.
Fagan passed away at home from a brain aneurysm, according to her obituary. She was 39.
Fagan was a graduate of Lexington High School, where she played softball and basketball and was a member of the Lexington Band of Gold.
At 18 years old, she began working for the Lexington Police Department as a dispatcher. She continued working for the village until her passing, most recently as the clerk of court and assistant finance director.
The city of Ontario and village of Lexington are both flying their flags to half staff through Monday.
A GoFundMe for her family has surpassed its goal of $40,000. Last weekend, community members rallied to provide birthday gifts for her youngest child.
Family friend Kenn Spencer said that in the hours after Fagan’s passing, Amazon packages kept arriving at her front door — a tangible reminder of her presence and love for her family.
The boxes contained supplies for her almost-six-year-old son’s birthday party on Sunday.
After careful consideration, the family decided to move forward with the party.
Spencer, who runs Ontario Youth Sports, posted a notice on the league’s Facebook page. In it, he asked community members to respect the family’s privacy, but invited anyone who wanted to drop off a gift for the boy at Western Elementary School.
The response was overwhelming.
“It got shared hundreds of times. It was insane,” Spencer said. “There was people stopping by that didn’t even know the family. They just read the Facebook post. It was car after car after car.”
Fagan is survived by her husband Cory and children Emma, Callie and Beckett. She is also survived by her mother Brenda Barton, sister Caitlin Tarbert, aunts Dawn Porter, Peggy Warren and Patty Justice.