Stephanie Huffer Kay passed away last Saturday due to alcohol poisoning after celebrating her 21st birthday with her husband and friends.

According to Jim Sughrue of Raleigh Police, emergency units transported Kay to Rex Hospital, where she was immediately pronounced deceased.

Last Monday, her parents held a visitation, and the next day, Apostolic Tabernacle Church in Wilmington held her funeral.

Kay’s mother had put together various slide shows for the church about events in the past, but Huffer said she was unable to do this one.

“Some of the younger people who worked with her did one, and it was great,” Huffer said.

Kay leaves behind her husband of one and a half years, Aaron. The two were wed in Burgaw, N.C. and lived at Autumn Ridge Apartments where they held the party.

“She was all-go and very headstrong,” Huffer said. “There was never a tree tall enough for her to climb. Everyone talks about her big smile and the first person a stranger said they met was always Stephanie.”

Huffer said his daughter also loved to tell stories.

“She could spit a yarn just like Mark Twain,” she said. “She loved to relish and embellish.”

Her family found out about the incident just after it happened — the night before Easter Sunday.

“[Sunday] was the toughest,” Huffer said. “She had picked out my wife’s outfit and shoes for Easter Sunday.”

According to Huffer, the pathologist told the family the cause of death was purely blood-alcohol level — there were no signs of drugs or any other substance.

Huffer said the family is working on setting up a memorial scholarship fund for the College of Veterinary Medicine and is donating Kay’s viola to the band at her old high school — Laney High School.