CONWAY, N.H. – Carly Erin Ibbotson, 17, of Wilton, and Kalamazoo, Mich., was killed on Wednesday, Dec. 15, when the car in which she was a passenger was struck head-on by an SUV on Rte. 16, in Albany, N.H.

Carly Erin was the first child of Randall B. Ibbotson of Portage, Mich. and Heidi (Woodbury) Sweetwater of Wilton, born on Aug. 11, 1987, in Kalamazoo, Mich.

She was a former student of Portage schools.

Carly Erin’s short life brought a bright light into the lives of those she loved. She was spontaneous, outspoken, artisitic, compassionate and a fashion iconoclast. She will be intensely missed by her family and friends who know they will never meet another person quite like her. Her family has proudly described her as “a person who marched to the beat of a different drum; one that only she could hear.”

She is survived by her parents; a sister, Katie Walker of Key West, Fla.; a brother, Charles Ibbotson of Portage, Mich.; grandmothers, Dorothy Woodbury of Howland, and Barbara Ibbotson of Killean, Texas; her best friend and cousin, Lydia Reckendorf of Farmington; her aunts and uncles, David and Beth Woodbury of Lincoln, Anni Sweetwater of Stowe, Vt., Kevin and Debbie Leavitt of Palermo, Charles and Katie Woodbury of Wilton, Amy and George Rezendes of Norwich, Conn., and Laura Woodbury of Farmington; paternal aunt, Carrie Holt and her husband, William, of Kempner, Texas; great aunts, Virginia Norris of New Sharon, and Dottie Kinney of Springvale; 17 cousins and many devoted friends.

She was predeceased by an uncle, Daniel Ibbotson; maternal grandfather, Victor Woodbury; and paternal grandfather, Edward Ibbotson.