It has the look and feel of a high school reunion, but these people were brought together by the death of a close friend and classmate.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—

It has the look and feel of a high school reunion, but these people were brought together by the death of a close friend and classmate.

Claudene Christian lost her life October 29th. She was part of the sailing crew on the H.M.S. Bounty, a tall ship that sank off the coast of North Carolina during Superstorm Sandy.

"Claudene was one of my best friends, so this has been extremely difficult to deal with,” said Jamie Gates. “She was such an amazing person, and I've never met anyone else like her."

Gates says Christian and her became friends when both were on the cheer team at West High School. Those memories were rekindled when classmates put on a hockey game in Claudene's honor Friday afternoon.

"Claudene was a real special person to everyone who knew her, said former classmate C.B. Brady. “She had a way with making everyone happy, friends with everybody, a smile that you couldn't beat, beautiful, loving, friendly."

A Miss Teen Alaska in 1986 and Alaska National Teen in 1987, Christian earned a degree from USC in communications and started her own doll company.

Even at age 42, she had not lost her adventurous spirit, embarking on a trip from Connecticut to Florida on a replica of the Bounty. She was a member of the sailing crew. Christian was also a distant relative of Fletcher Christian, who led a mutiny aboard the original British naval ship.

"From what I heard is they were trying to go around the storm, and then they had lost the generator power, and they got sucked into the storm."

The memories of Claudene’s life filled the room as the crowd grew larger.

"I think anytime you lose someone that's dear to you, it definitely affects the way that I look at life, especially the people that I'm close to."

Contact Adam Pinsker