Melissa Timte wanted to work with children and one day live in Texas, said friends of the child development senior who died Tuesday evening at Sparrow Hospital.
Her mother, Jacqueline Timte, of Canton, Mich., reached at home Wednesday, said her daughter "absolutely loved life."
"I remember the twinkle in her eyes, her smile, her fun sense of humor," Jacqueline Timte said.
Melissa Timte, whose 21st birthday was Monday, was hospitalized since Sept. 2 after suffering head injuries when she fell from a golf cart at Walnut Hills Country Club where she was an employee, friends and officials said.
Meridian Township police Sgt. Alan Spencer said authorities are investigating the circumstances of her death.
"We are just at the beginning of the investigation," said Spencer, who added officials from the golf club are cooperating with police.
Jim Harkness, a manager at Walnut Hills County Club, said the club is "terribly sorry" about Timte's death.
"She was a wonderful gal," Harkness said. "She was a very endeared employee.
As a student at Plymouth-Canton High School, Timte was a member of the varsity cheerleading squad.
She spent summers lifeguarding at a neighborhood pool and had plans to be an elementary school teacher.
Nursing senior Julie Janicki, a roommate of Timte's, said her friend loved the Detroit Red Wings and singing.
"She was really outgoing and energetic," Janicki said. "She had the best laugh ever. That's the thing I miss the most."
Janicki, who met Timte at their Academic Orientation Program before freshman year, said they lived on the same floor in Holden Hall that year. The students lived together the following year.
Gathered with their other friends on Wednesday night, Janicki said Timte will be missed.
"We all love her," she said.
A funeral mass is planned for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 44800 Warren Road in Canton.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. on Friday at the Schrader-Howell Funeral Home, 280 S. Main St. in Plymouth. A scripture service is planned for 7 p.m. on Friday.
