Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus North cheerleader Ariel Roberts poses for a photo in her room at home in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.
The community and Columbus North High School are preparing to gather to honor and remember Ariel Roberts, the greatly loved and positive Bull Dog cheerleader who lost her life to glioblastoma on Jan. 20.
Ariel, 18, a senior and varsity cheerleader at Columbus North, will be remembered at her funeral service Saturday at the North gym, with visitation from 2:30 to 5 p.m. prior to the service. Visitors are asked to enter the school through door 40, which is just south of the football field.
Her family and friends say Roberts will be remembered for her smile, her happiness, her faithfulness and her love that she showed to all.
“Throughout this whole year, she’s always kept her positivity and had a great attitude and had a great smile on her face,” said Coral Roberts, Ariel’s sister. “A year ago when she was diagnosed and through this entire year, she’s been so positive and hasn’t let the disease take over. She’s powered through it and was strong the whole way through. She never gave up. She fought the whole way until the very end. She’s inspired me, and she’s inspired everybody to not give up. She was happy the whole way through. She never once complained or cried. She’s amazing and everyone saw that and that’s why she’s so loved.”
In a lieu of flowers, the family is asking that memorial contributions be made to the Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators or to The Cure Starts Now, which is an organization that helps fund research for pediatric brain cancer in hopes of one day finding a cure.
Glioblastoma is a highly malignant type of cancer that occurs in the brain and spinal cord, with more than 13,000 Americans diagnosed every year. The reasons for the occurrence are unknown.
Ariel had a love for animals according to her family, and her favorite courses involved pursuing a veterinary career. She had spent a couple weeks working at the Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators and it was one of her favorite places to go. One of Ariel’s biggest goals was to return and volunteer, her family said.
After receiving her cancer diagnosis, Ariel was still an active teenager. She was a member of Garden City Christian Church. She participated in youth group, going to school and attending North games and cheering on the Bull Dogs and also attending tumbling classes.
“I think just all of her friends and family and the doctors and the nurses we encountered too were always amazed that despite her diagnosis and how bad it looked on the scans that she was just so strong and never cried,” said Todd Roberts, Ariel’s father. “We never saw her cry or complain. She smiled, she pushed through to the point that they did not understand why she didn’t have more symptoms than she did, but that was her. She was very tough. She had a very high tolerance for pain, and she didn’t believe in feeling sorry for herself, she never did. That amazed the doctors and nurses who have come in to see her.”
Over the past year since her diagnosis, the Roberts family has received strong community support from church, school, family members, friends and their employers who let the family take time off to be at Ariel’s side through the treatment process.
“We’ve had amazing support and been blessed to have such a church that has gone above and beyond and to do everything that they can for us,” said Carrie Roberts, Ariel’s mother. “We also had support from the cheerleaders at North and the coaches. They never stopped calling and checking on her and come to see her and the cheer teams from other schools. There’s been multiple senior projects that have supported our family or supported the research or supported things in her honor. It’s been amazing. It makes it speechless at times. It’s been a true blessing.”
Ariel’s faith in God and her ability to help others in need during her time of need helped her in the fight of her year-long battle with cancer.
“If her story can move towards faith, she would have liked that. I think that was her main thing,” Todd said. “She loves her Christian music. She loves her faith and her church. She really wanted to touch people and really wanted to pull people in.”
Ariel was also an organ donor. Carrie recalled when Ariel received her driver’s license that she didn’t hesitate and said, “Yes” right away when asked if she wanted to be an organ donor. Carrie said that Ariel’s corneas were donated. It was another example of Ariel helping out others.
“There may be someone out there that can see the light through her eyes, and I think that goes to show who she was,” Carrie said. “When they called us and asked us, we didn’t hesitate. If there was something that they could use, they should, and I know even though she is gone, she was still blessing somebody and that’s what she would have wanted to do.”
