Filmmaking was life for Glenbrook South High alumna Grace Kaskie, who died in a California vehicle crash while trying to make her dreams come true.

The 21-year-old was studying her craft in Boston with the hope of one day breaking into the movie industry.

“She was always interested in making movies,” said her aunt, Mary Kaskie. “She’d always make movies when she was younger. That was kind of her passion.”

Grace Kaskie, a member of Glenbrook South’s class of 2007, was killed on Sunday when her car was broadsided at a freeway off-ramp in Santa Maria, according to school district officials and a California Highway Patrol report.

Her sister, Emily Kaskie, was riding next to her and remains in an intensive care unit in California. Emily Kaskie had traveled to California to see her sister, and the pair planned on driving home together at the end of the internship, Mary Kaskie said.

The driver of the second vehicle was treated and released at the scene, according to the police report, which also states that drugs or alcohol did not appear to play a role in the crash.

Friends of the Kaskies filled Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Glenview Tuesday evening to remember Grace Kaskie and pray for the recovery of Emily Kaskie, who pastor emeritus John Flavin called “a young lady — we can’t quite say a young child.”

“We know that Grace is praying for her with the Lord,” Flavin said.

Grace Kaskie’s friends were noticeably grief-stricken. Outside the church, Tieg Van Dam and Jeannie Andresen, who knew Grace Kaskie from Glenbrook South, spoke in a somber tone but laughed when recalling fond memories of their friend and classmate.

Andresen remembered Kaskie’s work editing and producing a commercial she made in a Glenbrook South marketing class, and both described her as an outstanding athlete.

“It’s so sadly ironic,” Van Dam said. “She was the most full-of-life person I’ve ever known. She always had something positive to say.”

Kaskie, a Golf resident, took part in film production activities while at Glenbrook South, and she was spending her summer as a film industry intern in California, her aunt said. She was set to graduate next year from Emerson College in Boston.

Those who knew her described her as driven. A member of Glenbrook South’s basketball and cross-sountry teams and a cross-country runner at Emerson, Kaskie was as determined to succeed in athletics as much as in her creative pursuits.

In April, Emerson’s newspaper reported that Kaskie ran the Boston Marathon, her first such race. Her photos accompany the article.

But film was her calling. In high school, she worked in Glenbrook South’s television department, and she went on to study film. She was particularly interested in documentaries, but she worked as a producer on a variety of film projects at the college, said Jared Gordon, who taught Kaskie in his Intermediate Film Production course.

“She wanted to be a filmmaker, and as far as I’m concerned, she was,” Gordon said. “I have no doubt she gave her all during the class.”

In Gordon’s course, Kaskie worked on a short film written and directed by her peer called “Amandine,” about a little girl whose imagination takes her to various places. Kaskie’s job was to scout locations, secure equipment and do other behind-the-scenes work.

On the set, Kaskie was not only professional but also warm and funny, Gordon said. He and others recalled her sense of humor and kindness. When the time came to give feedback on her classmates’ films, Kaskie was positive and supportive in her comments, Gordon said.

“She was the nicest person,” said Lisa Sene, who worked with Kaskie on numerous films at Emerson. “She always had a smile on her face.”

Sene said she and Kaskie both participated this summer in the college’s semester in Los Angeles, in which students shadow professionals in the film industry. Sene said the program sometimes leads to jobs for the aspiring filmmakers after college.

Kaskie and Sene worked together on “quite a few films,” but most recently on a music video for a campus organization.

“It was a hectic shoot, but she made it happen,” Sene said.

Like the members of the Glenbrook South community, Sene and Gordon both said they were shocked to hear about Kaskie’s death.

Back in the Chicago area, details of the crash were still filtering back to family members Tuesday.

Mary Kaskie called her niece “a lovely person — physically and in every way.”

Glenbrook South Principal Brian Wegley had similar kind words to share in a statement Tuesday afternoon:

“Grace Kaskie was an intelligent, involved and wonderful person who consistently found ways to add joy to those around her. This tragedy is truly a loss to our community and world, and our hearts and prayers go out to her family and friends.”

A service to celebrate Kaskie’s life is scheduled for this fall at Emerson College in Boston.

— Jeff Danna