For many, Creighton will never be the same after the loss of a great friend over the summer.

Jonathan Colby, 21, was a senior chemistry major beginning his summer class and living in Opus Hall when he was found dead by his 2 roommates July 8th.

His mother, Nancy Colby, spoke of him as a person who loved doing different things; from working the chemistry lab, to cooking Christmas dinner when she came down with the flu to playing golf every Sunday with his father, he always had something to do and he did it with a smile.

“I can say he really was the kindest person I have ever known, he never said a bad thing about anyone,” she said. “He was just one of those people who walked into a room and everybody wanted to talk to him.”

When his parents and two sisters came to visit in May, he showed his younger sister around campus to his favorite spots: the grass outside the student center where he played frisbee, the fitness center where he’d play pickup games of basketball and the Creighton mall. He loved this place so much, his mother said it rubbed off on them.

“There is nothing negative I can say about Creighton. Jon wanted to go into pre med, and now his sister is thinking about going to Creighton for nursing,” his mother said.

Colby passed away June 8, the day summer sessions started. Dan Meyer, senior Arts & Sciences major, had been roomates with Colby for two years. He agreed that Colby’s cooking stood out.

“He would always offer us whatever he was making, baked ziti or anything,” Meyer said. “He was one of the most friendly people, I mean, that was just his essense and that shone through his cooking.”

Tonya Winegard, Assistant Vice President for Student Life/Student Services, got a call in her office that morning that something critical had happened in Opus Hall. She didn’t know it yet, but Colby had died. When she got there, paramedics, police and other university administrators who had also sprinted from their offices to the hall met Winegard with the same confusion.

Public Safety provided the initial response and checked for life signs upon arrival, said Dave Peterson with public safety. The 911 Emergency Center was contacted for a rescue squad and OPD response.

“We secured and protected the scene and assisted all external response agencies and internal departments that were involved with the incident,” Peterson said in an email interview.

In Hartland, Wis. The Rev. Andy Alexander, who was in the area on a visit, was contacted and he met with the family. Hours later, Colby’s parents and two sisters arrived in Omaha.

“Within five minutes we knew the roommates were involved, we knew the police were asking questions, we knew we had a tragedy on our hands,” Winegard said.

The first few minutes, she knew nothing. One roommate called for help, saying Colby wouldn’t wake up and five minutes later police, the entire Residence Life staff and Student Services were there, assisting police where they could.

While Winegard couldn’t provide much to the police, her role was to assure students there was not a threat on campus and she would explain things when she could.

She picked up Colby’s family at the airport and stayed with them while they were in town. The next night, June 9, the commons of Opus Hall were filled to capacity with friends, his parents and sisters, university officials and Jesuits.

“That was a more intimate place (than the church),” Winegard said. “It was just a time for all of us to gather and really just be sad together and share stories.”

While it was a somber setting, Winegard said that was a moment when she saw “Creighton at its best, when every student was open and considerate, acting as a community.”

Susan Naatz, Associate Vice President for University Ministry, gave a reflection at a memorial service.

“We can’t understand what happened and we don’t have answers,” Naatz said in her reflection. “This just doesn’t make sense. Sometimes we can only stand and look at the mystery. But we do know this—Our God who loves Jon was with him and never left his side. And God continues to be with him and will continue to be with us.

“Jon was loved by so many and he continues to be loved and cared for by both our God and by us. That is not a mystery.”

She said people gathered to be consoled and trust that God was present.

“We who are family, friends and members of the Creighton community have come together because our understanding of human love says that when one of us suffers, we all suffer,” she said.

No cause of death has been revealed, as only the parents have the coroner’s report. Newspapers soon after the event listed the cause of death as a possible overdose of prescription medication.

While Winegard would not speak to Colby’s cause of death, she did say this event has triggered the administration to recommit their efforts to explain to students how to confront their friends or themselves if they have a problem with drinking, drugs or other destructive behaviors.

“If you’re concerned for a friend — a friend is in trouble — there are recourses on campus for you.”

Drug and alcohol counseling services are available, resident advisers and directors can point students in a direction of where to find help.

In the past five years, Winegard has had fewer than 10 students be reported for abusing prescription medication and said it can be hard to identify when it is being abused.

“We are not immune to the problems facing outside society,” she said.