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Elsie Mahe dumped glitter over her head, covered her hair with peanut butter and tossed eggs onto the kitchen floor.

Those seemingly mischievous activities were just her versions of crafting, primping and cooking, in an effort to model her mother.

"I'm humbled to think I have an angel who wanted to be just like me," Sunny Mahe said Friday night, during a memorial service for her daughter.

One of eight children of Sunny and Reno Mahe, 3-year-old Elsie died Nov. 29, following an in-home accident a week before.

A trail of pink balloons and photos of a girl with an irresistible smile and her head cocked to one side led some 400 friends and relatives through the Salt Palace Convention Center to the public celebration of her brief life. A private family service will be held Saturday.

Reno Mahe, a former Brighton High School and BYU star who played in the Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles, is a Cougar assistant football coach. Sunny Mahe played volleyball for BYU. So the loss of their child has resonated throughout the BYU sports community and far beyond, with former University of Utah coach Ron McBride among the mourners Friday.

A pink "Y" floral display carried the message "Ofa Atu" — translated from Tongan as "I love you."

Elsie's parents have looked beyond themselves. They made sure her legacy would include organ donation, helping others.

And the response has been inspiring. "It has just been a really cool story," BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki said earlier Friday. "To see the strength and faith of Reno and Sunny, and the amount of people who have been touched by the story and the lives that Elsie has affected has been amazing to see."

That's what has struck Steven Tonga, Sunny's brother. He hoped those in attendance could have "half the impact on half as many people as this little girl."

Bright pink tennis shoes were placed next to her in a tiny white casket, but she was known for running around barefoot and talking in a "cartoonishly high voice," her mother said.

Her brothers and sisters will remember that voice, usually accompanied by a contagious laugh. Her energy undoubtedly will live on through them.

During her husband's first season on the BYU staff, Sunny Mahe has written a column for The Daily Herald of Provo about the life of a coaching family. Her recent Facebook posts about Elsie have reflected the family's grace and bonding under the circumstances, and have inspired Reno's co-workers to stick together.

"Really, we were tight as a group before," Tuiaki said. "But it has brought us even closer together and brought some perspective into the season, and the relationships with the players on the team, and with their families."

Tuiaki continued, "It has just been an eye-opener and something that we won't ever forget. It is obviously not a good thing, but what has come out of it, the amount of lives that it has touched, and the relationships that have been tightened, and all that, has been really, really good."

Personally I've been heartened by the response to my suggestions that Elsie Mahe and Hayes Tate somehow be remembered around next September's Utah-BYU game. The 20-month-old son of former Ute defensive back Steve Tate died Sunday of cancer, leaving his own legacy of courage and toughness. How cool would it be to have an alumni flag football game honoring them, or patches on the team uniforms with the "Hayes Tough" logo and a pink symbol for Elsie?

She was quite the girl, it seems. My grandmother, also named Elsie, was born 100 years earlier. Since she died five years ago, I've wondered if I ever would meet another Elsie. In a way, I feel as though I did.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt