At left, a maroon ribbon around a tree in Weston, Massachusetts, tied as a show of support to a Weston High School student who lost her parents and siblings — Dr. Michael Groff, Karenna Groff and Joy Saini are seen at right — in a plane crash in New York’s Catskills.
A Boston suburb is offering silent support to a local high school senior who lost her parents and siblings in a plane crash this weekend.
Maroon ribbons have been tied around trees, poles and columns and placed on mailboxes around Weston, Massachusetts, in honor of the student, who wasn't on the small plane that killed her family, Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini and Karenna and Jared Groff.
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HERE"The community really wanted to come together and wrap our resident in a nice hug, a quiet hug," Weston Town Manager Leon Gaumond told NBC10 Boston. "The goal here is to just show the support of the community for our young resident who really is struggling with just the most horrific thing that she's ever had to deal with."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox with our News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP The small plane crashed Saturday in a field in Copake, New York, in the Catskills, near the Massachusetts line. Also on the plane, and among the six dead, were Karenna's boyfriend, James Santoro, and Jared's partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte. Santoro's father has said they were flying to the Catskills to celebrate Karenna’s 25th birthday.
The Groff-Saini family was well-known in Weston, where all three children attended school. Karenna Groff went on to MIT, and was named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; the parents were remembered by colleagues as excellent doctors and great people by colleagues at the major Boston-area hospitals where they worked.
A funeral was held Wednesday for the four members of the Groff-Saini family who died in the crash, The Boston Globe reported.
"We grieve their tragic, premature deaths, cherish our memories with them, and mourn the bright futures that have been so cruelly extinguished–futures that would have been shared with James Santoro and Alexia Couyutas Duarte, whom we also mourn and for whom our hearts also ache," the family said in a statement shared with the newspaper through a representative.
Weston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Karen Zalenski and Weston High School Principal Sue Bairstow wrote a letter to the community on Sunday addressing the deaths of Karenna and Jared Groff, and acknowledging the grieving sibling they left behind.
"Out of respect for the family and especially for our student who is grieving the loss of her loved ones, we ask that all members of our community honor their privacy during this deeply personal time," the letter said. "Our role as a school community is to surround them with quiet care, compassion, and space to heal."
A Weston High School parent approached town management with the idea to put ribbons on trees by the town green to show support for the child, and Gaumond applauded the effort — ribbons were still being put up on Wednesday, including on columns at the Town Hall itself.
"In tragedies like this, the communities really struggle to find a way to express themselves," Gaumond said, noting that the gesture makes a difference for the whole community, not just the affected student.
The ribbons are maroon for the town's colors.
