Lauren Bunyan Gould, cheer coach, lived dreams

• Lauren Bunyan Gould, 32, passed away Sunday after complications from cystic fibrosis.
• Gould was given a life expectancy of 16 years.
• Her two-day wake drew 2,000 people, and more than 1,000 people attended the funeral Friday.
• Gould's motto was: “Don’t dream your life, live your dream.”

As Lauren Bunyan Gould was getting her hair done last Saturday for a family wedding later that day, she gushed to her stylist, Melissa Price, in anticipation of seeing her 4-year-old daughter Emily walk down the aisle as the flower girl.

Gould never made it to the wedding.

Gould, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of 2, suffered complications from the disease on her way to get her makeup done and pulled over to the side of the road. She passed away the following afternoon at the age of 32 — twice as long as the life expectancy doctors gave her decades ago.

The North Rockland alumna was a longtime cheerleading coach at her alma mater and founded CheerMania, a competitive cheer program for boys and girls that was just minutes away from the high school.

Gina Tedesco, Gould’s former cheerleading coach, is still trying to process it all.

“It’s been like a nightmare. An absolute nightmare,” she said, sitting in the lobby of the Mania Training Facility in Stony Point. “The magnitude of her reach is going to be endless.”

Gould’s impact on the community was evidenced by the 2,000 people who paid their respects over a two-day wake at T.J. McGowan Sons Funeral Home this week, and the 1,000-plus people who crammed inside St. Peter’s Church for the funeral Mass on Friday.

“The funeral itself was magnificent,” North Rockland athletic director Joe Casarella said Friday evening, sporting a solid black suit over a white dress shirt and a red tie to match the school’s colors. “It was a tremendous tribute to her.”

“She was a marvelous person,” Casarella added.

“It’s amazing that something so gut-wrenching for all of us could be so beautiful,” Tedesco said, while choking up, before emotions got the best of her. “So many people came out. I never saw so many flowers in my life at a funeral. I never saw so many people in my life at a funeral.”

When Gould married her husband John in 2009, she invited her varsity cheerleading team, with one request of the girls.

“She wanted us to be in full uniform and everything,” said Sharice Mack, who was one of the 28 girls to fulfill Gould's request. “That's exactly what she wanted — just so we can stand out and people knew that we were her girls.”

The electronic message board in front North Rockland currently reads, “In memoriam Lauren Gould,” with the words, “Coach, Leader, Friend,” underneath her name. Behind the board, the school's flags are flying at half-staff. The girls basketball team remembered her with a 15-second moment of silence before Friday's game.

In many ways, Gould embodied perseverance. She started a business and a family, and found success, happiness, and purpose through both. She did it all despite doctors telling her she would never live to see graduation.

North Rockland principal Dr. Michael Gill was Gould’s teacher when he first came to the high school, and a neighbor to her for years. Steve and Peggy Bunyan, Lauren’s parents, still reside in the Garnerville home a few houses away from Gill.

“Lauren is the kind of person that, she exemplifies what we want for all the students here at North Rockland,” Gill said. “She was a smart young lady, but she really made the most out of her life, and I think that's a great example for anybody around here.”

Erica Delehanty, a former pupil of Gould’s, had been tasked with creating the cake for Emily Gould’s first birthday. Delehanty recalled driving to the Gould home to drop off the Minnie Mouse-themed confectionary creation.

“I had left the car running because I figured I would just run in, drop it off, and be on my way,” Delehanty said. “Two hours later, I was still there chatting and catching up on the time that had passed since we last saw each other.”

At the end of the lobby in the Mania Training Facility is the silhouette of Gould in her trademark arms-out, thumbs-up pose in lavender paint. Pasted over it is a quote that had become a motto for Gould, and the CheerMania program: “Don’t dream your life, live your dream.”

Lauren Bunyan Gould lived her dreams — when many thought she would never get the chance.

Twitter: @Zacchio_LoHud