Dahlia Lucie Veyrat

Dahlia Lucie Veyrat, of Rochester, New York, passed away peacefully on October 28, 2025. She was a gentle, luminous soul whose keen mind and kind heart touched everyone who knew her. Her love of language, music, science, and the natural world revealed a spirit both curious and compassionate.

Born in Nancy, France, to Suzanne and Christophe Veyrat, Dahlia grew up in the South of France and in Norfolk, Virginia. She found her greatest joy swimming in the azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea in her hometown of Sète.

A gifted student, she graduated as salutatorian from Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2013 and was named a State AP Scholar that same year. She continued her studies at the College of William and Mary, where she was a Monroe Scholar and earned dean’s list honors. Dahlia received her bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics in 2015 and was awarded her master of arts degree in physics in 2018 while earning her doctorate in physics and astronomy from the University of Rochester in 2023.

Dahlia’s partners and friends knew her as clever, playful, and endlessly curious. She delighted in wordplay and in sharing the linguistic, scientific, and historical rabbit holes she so loved to explore. A drummer learning the keyboard, she embraced music across genres—from the heaviest metal to kawaii future bass—and could often be found moshing at concerts, large and small. She spent countless evenings watching sci-fi, fantasy, horror, anime, and wonderfully odd YouTube videos with friends. A dedicated gamer, she competed in Magic: The Gathering tournaments and local events, and took pride in mastering very difficult video games, particularly the “SoulsBornekiro” RPGs and the platformer games Celeste and Mario, determined to explore every hidden corner of their worlds.

She also found joy in both nature and cityscapes, and treated trip planning as an art—puzzling out the most delightful routes, timings, and discoveries. In that spirit, she was most proud of the part she played in taking her friends out from under Rochester’s cloudy skies to a clear part of Vermont to witness the total eclipse of 2024.

Dahlia is survived by her beloved spouse of eight years, Ryn Veyrat; her parents, Suzanne and Christophe Veyrat; her sisters, Elisabeth “Isla” and Héloïse Veyrat; and her sister-in-law Jessalyn Barr.

A celebration of Dahlia’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on November 8, 2025, at the Alvah Halloran & Son Funeral Home, 2125 Chili Ave., Rochester, New York 14624. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Trevor Project, PO Box 69232, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Dahlia’s ashes will be scattered in her beloved Mediterranean at a later date, where light and sea will help us keep her memory.