Memorial service for Heather Kerwick to be held at Hilton Head Omni resort

A Bluffton resident’s life will be remembered at the Hilton Head Island resort where she began her hospitality career.

A memorial service for Heather Kerwick will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Shorehouse of the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort.

Kerwick, 25, originally from Fredon, N.J., died last month in a car crash on May River Road. She was killed during her morning commute from Bluffton to Savannah, where she’d recently helped open the new Hotel Indigo.

Funeral services for Kerwick were held last week at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Newton, N.J., her sister, Gabrielle Kerwick, told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on Tuesday.

Heather Kerwick is remembered fondly by former coworkers at the Omni.

“She knew everyone on (Hilton Head Island), in Bluffton,” said Theo Schofield, her former boss at the Omni. “I think she was just really out in the community. You don’t always see that from someone her age.”

Her most recent employer described her as a strong woman with a bright future in hospitality.

“Heather was an integral part of the pre-opening and grand opening team,” said Kellie Linder, Kerwick’s boss at Hotel Indigo. “Her loss is already being felt.”

South Carolina had become Kerwick’s adopted home, her sister said.

“It’s just the person she is,” her sister said about Kerwick’s love of hospitality. “It’s in her nature to help people. … And I think her love for South Carolina and the beach and everything, she just wanted to bring people there.”

If you have questions about Thursday’s memorial service, contact Heather’s father, Robert Kerwick, at rsksr5@embarqmail.com or 973-703-1659.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse, P.O. Box 1775, Beaufort, SC 29901.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Memorial service for Heather Kerwick to be held at Hilton Head Omni resort."