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YSU student leader "was always smiling" friends remember
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State University student Eric Stone was a leader and an excellent student who worked hard and was always smiling and willing to help others, according to some of those who knew him.
The junior electrical-engineering major died Tuesday evening after he collapsed playing basketball at the Andrews Student Recreation Center on campus.
“He was very energetic,” said F. Mossayebi, associate professor in YSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Stone’s academic adviser. “He was always smiling. He was an excellent student and had a 4.0 grade point average.”
Mossayebi also is the faculty adviser for the Youngstown chapter of the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers of which Stone was the president.
Andy Morgan, the organization’s secretary, was in many of the same classes with Stone and the two worked on projects together.
“He was a bright young man who always worked hard, and he always had a smile on his face when he did,” Morgan, of Vienna, said. “Everything he did, he was dedicated to it.”
University Counseling Services was available to counsel students Wednesday.
It’s exam week at the university, and Mossayebi said students were offered the opportunity to put their finals off to another date if they felt uncomfortable because of their classmate’s death.
He believes Stone had a bright future in electrical engineering in front of him.
“He wanted to invent things,” the professor said. “He was an inquisitive learner.”
Stone got involved with the IEEE as a sophomore and was elected president as a junior.
In that role, he organized meetings and conducted fundraisers.
“He was a leader,” Mossayebi said.
Reviving the organization is a goal Stone set for his presidency of the group, Morgan said.
“He put a lot into it,” Morgan said.
Stone was a native of Calcutta, living in Newton Falls. He lived in the Weller House on campus during the academic year.
Morgan said his friend worked as a tutor in the math assistance center on campus and was well-liked on campus.
“He was always very kind. He never said anything bad about anyone,” Morgan said.
Stone was active on campus, working out at the recreation center daily and helping others with math.
“He was all over the place,” Morgan said. “He had lot of different connections with people, and people spoke highly of him. He was always willing to help in any way.”
Friends, relatives and classmates expressed shock and sympathy on Stone’s Facebook page.
“Eric was such a sweet person to everyone he encountered, and he never failed to help anyone in need,” one friend wrote.
“I just spoke to you the other day on the way to class,” wrote another. “It’s hard to believe that just like that, you’re gone. It didn’t matter when or where I saw you, but you always wore a smile. I’m gonna miss seeing that smile.”