By Khalida Sarwari
When friends and family of 25-year-old Emily Bordallo speak at her memorial in Campbell on Sunday, one of the things they’re sure to bring up is her smile.
Bordallo was killed in a crash in San Jose on the morning of Jan. 3, according to police. She was driving a white Honda Civic north on Dumbarton Avenue that was struck by a Land Rover at the intersection of Dumbarton and Curtner avenues.
The Land Rover was going east on Curtner and was struck by a Honda Element, police said. The 16-year-old driver of the Honda Element was not injured and the driver of the Land Rover, an 18-year-old, suffered minor injuries.
Bordallo, however, succumbed to her injuries at 8:02 a.m. at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Her death was the city’s first traffic fatality of the year.
Today, As Bordallo’s friends and co-workers were preparing for her memorial, they thought back to the last time they saw her.
Bordallo worked as an account manager at Barracuda Networks, an IT security company in Campbell. Co-worker and close friend Bijan Ghazizadeh, 25, of Los Gatos, recalled dropping Bordallo off at San Jose Mineta International Airport on Dec. 30 for a weekend trip she took to Los Angeles.
“She was her usual jovial self,” he remembered.
Ghazizadeh, who works as a product specialist at Barracuda, met Bordallo at work and the two became close friends over time.
He recalled Bordallo taking him to her favorite sushi restaurant for his birthday and a trip they took together to Chicago for the Lollapalooza music festival.
Ghazizadeh described Bordallo as “genuine,” and as someone who would bring others food or candy if they were having a bad day.
“I would come into work and I’d be upset and I’d walk over to her and she’d be smiling. And she had that dimple on her cheek that just made you smile back,” said Ghazizadeh. “It was a contagious attitude of living life to the fullest and not worrying about the drama.”
Erin Conley, 27, of Los Gatos, was moved to tears while talking about her friend and co-worker. She met Bordallo through mutual friends not long after she moved to California from Maryland last year to start work as an event coordinator at Barracuda.
“For me, California is Emily. My personal life whenever I’m in town, I was with her,” Conley said. “I don’t feel that there’s words that can embody how great of a person she was. She was so amazing.”
On Sunday, Bordallo’s friends and family will gather at Villa Regusa in Campbell for a “Celebration of Life” memorial. The event will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
