Sahara Ray’s longtime hometown friend Molly Lou is sharing a glimpse into how the model’s loved ones plan to celebrate her life in the weeks to come.
“The family will initially be gathering in the next month privately to honor her memory in California,” Lou exclusively shares with Us. “Her family had, of course, been present and supporting her the last few years as she navigated motherhood, and baby Snow has a whole lot of people who love her.”
Sahara’s inner circle spans two continents with family in the United States as well as her dad, Australian pro surfer Tony Ray, in Australia.
“Sahara was incredibly close with all of her family, spending her life traveling between the two,” Lou shares. “Sahara gave a big, palpable sense of love and care to all who knew her. She loved to give big cheek kisses and really tight hugs.”
Sahara died at the age of 34 on Sunday, October 18. The swimwear designer gave birth to a daughter named Snow in January.
“She passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital,” Sahara’s family said in a statement to TMZ on Monday, October 19. “She was so loved.”
Her cause of death has yet to be revealed.
“Seeing Sahara as a mom was exciting for everyone. Sahara was a loving, caring person from an early age, and motherhood felt like a natural step for her,” Lou tells Us about her longtime friend. “Her family and friends want to make sure baby Snow always remembers her mom, and are currently working on gathering photos and videos and words to share with baby Snow.”
In just a few short days, Lou says there has been an “overwhelming amount of tributes” that loved ones hope to capture for Snow.
“We all want baby Snow to know who her mom was. We want baby Snow to be able to read through first-person stories of her mom and how silly and goofy she was, how smart she was, how gentle,” Lou explains. “We want baby Snow to grow up surrounded by the love we all felt from Sahara. … We want baby Snow to be able to feel her mom’s warmth through us all.”
As family and friends continue to mourn the loss of Sahara, those closest to the model are paying tribute online.
“My beautiful big sister, Sahara,” Ruby Ray wrote via Instagram on Monday. “The most vivacious, intelligent, hilarious, kind, empathetic and breathtakingly beautiful soul. A force of nature. A light so bright that this world feels impossibly dimmer without her in it.”
She continued, “I just want my big sister. I want more time. More laughter. More conversations. More of her.”
