FAIRHOPE, Ala. — About 200 people attended a candlelight vigil Monday at the municipal pier for Fairhope Middle School student Emily Dunnam, 13, who died Sunday afternoon, said Sgt. Craig Sawyer, spokesman for the Fairhope Police Department.

Dunnam was a passenger on a Polaris four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle driven by her cousin of similar age. They were crossing a field near Summer Oaks subdivision southeast of town at about 1:30 p.m., when the ATV overturned after apparently being turned sharply, Sawyer said.

Dunnam was pronounced dead at the scene, and her cousin was treated for minor injuries at Thomas Hospital and released that day.

The Polaris Ranger 500 is a four-wheeled off-road vehicle but resembles a golf cart with a seat in which riders sit next to each other. The incident has been determined an accident, and no charges are pending, he said.

An honor roll student, athlete and active volunteer, Dunnam was remembered fondly by Fairhope Middle School Principal Deadra Lamar Powe.

“The thing about Emily is that she was one of those students who just had an infectious smile,” Powe said. “And she was such a sweetheart.”

Dunnam would have been in the 8th grade this year and also been Powe’s personal office assistant.

“I take a lot of applications for students who want to be office aides,” she said. “But it’s a hard job and takes a certain kind of student to do that. They all write letters for the job and hers convinced me. In fact, she would have been my personal aide. She was very mature.”

Powe said Dunnam had a lively presence at the school and in the community.

”She was always engaged in any activity that involved the school or public service,” she said, indicating that Dunnam played a major role in a project that sent donations to Honduras.

She was also an accomplished athlete, Powe said.

“There was absolutely nothing that she couldn’t do,” she said. “She was so involved with the soccer and cross-country teams that she didn’t have time to be in our unicycle club. But she just took it upon herself to learn how to ride it, and that’s what she did. She was such an asset to the school and community,” Powe said. “A loss like this is one of those things that you can’t understand, and you just know God has a better place for her.”

Emily is survived by her parents, William Ellis and Beverly Dunnam; one brother, Brandon Dunnam; one sister, Stephanie L. Dunnam all of Fairhope ; one half-brother, William Ellis Dunnam Jr. of Mobile; grandmother, Edna G. Bloodsworth of Fairhope; many aunts, uncles, cousins and numerous friends.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 9, 2 p.m., at the chapel of Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home, 19698 Greeno Road in Fairhope. The family will receive friends from noon until the service begins.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials in memory of Emily go to: Fairhope Middle School Girls Soccer Team, 2 Pirate Drive, Fairhope, AL 36532.