Elizabeth Michelle Aird, 12, passed away Feb. 26, 2011 at UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville while waiting for a heart transplant. "Izzy," as she was known to her friends, was born in Norfolk, the daughter of Amy Batts Aird and Bruce G. Aird. She formerly attended Northern Shores Elementary School in Suffolk, and had been home-schooled for the past two years. She was a member of St. Therese's Catholic Church. Elizabeth has graced us all with her beautiful smile, can do attitude, and genuinely loving and caring demeanor, only seeing the good in others. She exemplified that the world was to be explored and experienced and expectations were to be exceeded. Faced with many adversities throughout her young life, Elizabeth approached each situation with courage, and a can-do attitude. Her smile, charm, and zest for life will forever live on in our hearts, thoughts, and cherished memories. She was our gift, our princess, and our sunshine.

Besides her Mom and Dad, she is survived by her maternal grandparents, Willard and Ruth Batts of Chesapeake; her paternal grandparents, Eric and Barbara Aird of The Villages, Fla.; and loving aunts, uncles and cousins.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Therese's Catholic Church, 4137 Portsmouth Blvd., Chesapeake, by the Rev. Fr. James E. Gordon. Burial will follow in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens, Suffolk. Friends may join the family at a reception in the church social hall immediately following the burial. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to , P.O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216. Baker-Foster Funeral Home, Bennett's Creek Chapel, Suffolk, is handling arrangements. Condolences may be registered at www.bakerfoster. com.