Christine Renee Maier, a junior geography major, died Saturday in a fire that swept her boyfriend’s Eastern Shore home. She was 19.

Friends said they would remember Maier for her adventurous nature, love of the nature and the outdoors and admiration for university alumnus and Muppets creator Jim Henson.

“[Christine was] beautiful, artistic, creative and whimsical,” said her older sister Gloria.

“She maxed out all the fun and possibilities,” said her older brother Gabe. “Her motto in life was true to how she lived: ‘Love is all you need.'”

Maier’s brother said she would often bike to class, taking the Paint Branch Trail to their shared College Park residence in order to enjoy the nature along the way. He also said she was a tough woman who played rugby.

A graduate of Magruder High School in Montgomery County, Maier was the youngest of six children whose father, Patrick, graduated from this university and raised his children as Terps, her brother said.

It was Maier’s desire for the “whole college experience” that led her to live on the campus rather than commute from the former family home in Gaithersburg, her brother said.

“I’ve never done better in school than when I lived with Christine,” he said. “She would print out my schedule and make sure I was awake … She gracefully kept me on the right path.”

It was under her brother’s protection that Maier both walked to kindergarten and moved to a house in College Park – after living on the campus for a year – with him and her best friend Rosemary Sharpe, Sharpe said.

Sharpe, who has known Maier for 12 years, said she and Maier would often meet for lunch on the campus, buying waffle sandwiches from the Maryland Food Cooperative and then moving outside to eat next to the statue of Kermit the Frog and Jim Henson that stands in front of the Stamp Student Union – Maier’s favorite spot on the campus.

A devoted Henson fan, Maier started the Facebook group “Jim Henson is What’s Right With Maryland” because she considered him a hero.

Maier also believed Henson should be better appreciated as a university alumnus, Sharpe said.

Instead of petting Testudo for good luck as many students do, Maier used to pet Kermit’s head instead, her sister said.

Because Maier had two sisters and three brothers, the family thought of themselves as The Brady Bunch, her sister said.

“We have a very close family,” she said. “It won’t be the same without her. Christine left a big hole in the way our family functions because she held such a special place.”

According to her brother, Maier had dreams of becoming a National Geographic reporter. Her sister said she loved maps and traveling, and used to read an atlas before going to sleep at night.

Maier was considering applying for her masters at the university to teach secondary education, her sister said, and was a teacher’s assistant in the first grade special education department at Judith A. Resnik Elementary School in Montgomery County.

She was scheduled to start her first official day of work on Monday at Franklin’s Restaurant in Hyattsville along with her brother, Martin, who already works there.

A funeral will be held today at 10 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Derwood.

Maier is survived by her parents Patrick and Kathleen Maier; her brothers Devin, Martin and Gabe Maier; and her sisters Gloria and Elizabeth Maier.

Contact reporter Tirza Austin at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.