Members of the university are remembering a student, classmate and friend lost a week ago in a fatal car accident.
Friends of Bryan Argo, who was a senior history and Latin major, speak of a warm, caring and slightly reserved young man always willing to help a friend.
"He always had a smile on his face," said Sonya Kokil, a junior pharmacy major who had known Argo since they both attended Niagara-Wheatfield High School. "He was the nicest guy you'd ever meet."
Argo, his girlfriend, Jamie Anna LaBarbera of North Tonawanda, and Argo's sister, Nicole, were following Argo's parents to Washington, D.C., for a surprise 70th birthday party for Argo's grandmother. Early Friday morning, Argo's car hit head-on by a tractor trailer. All three died in the collision.
Melanie Besecker, a junior business major, said Argo's death is a loss to the community as a whole.
"He was loved by everybody. Seriously, there wasn't a person who didn't like him," she said softly, eyes distant.
Services for Argo and his sister were held Wednesday in St. John Lutheran Church in Wheatfield.
Friends say that the loss for the Argo family is especially painful, as the parents lost both of their children in the crash. Kokil, Besecker and others said they plan on doing something special for the Argo family in the near future.
Argo's death marks the second student the university has lost this semester. Ryan Mullins, a second-year law student suffered a burst aorta on Sept. 21.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
