Max Larson, Loyola Sophomore, Remembered as Someone who “Always Smiled” by Friends and Professors

Remembered for his ability to love and dance, among many other things, the passing of sophomore Max Larson was announced in an email to students, faculty and staff from Loyola Campus Ministry on Oct. 31. Larson passed away Oct. 29.

A vigil was held for the Brooklyn native by his friends on a nearby beach, according to Meda Kerr, a 19-year old international business major and visual communication minor.

 “I was like his sister, so I opened it up and said a couple of things and then opened it up to everyone else,” Kerr said. “We let out lanterns and it was really peaceful.”

Larson was an incredible friend, according to sophomore Annie Bennett, a 19 year-old business major.

“He had ten different friend groups but he made every single one feel like it was his only one,” Bennett, 19, said. “Max didn’t really like sports, but he always came and watched the Buffalo Bills game with me.”

Junior Macklyn Mergel wrote in an email to The Phoenix the 19 year-old business major was always there for her at the perfect time.

“Whether it was the fact I was lost at a train stop or when I needed someone to talk to on my walk home, I would receive a call from him at the perfect time,” Mergel wrote. “He had this special thing about him where when you were with him, it felt like no one else could see you or judge you. We had a beautiful friendship which most people do not get to have in a lifetime, and I am so happy that it was him for me.”

From going to class and studying, to grabbing food and riding the shuttle, Mergel said when she first met Larson, they would spend every day together. 

“We would ride the shuttle and train back and forth from downtown sharing headphones and dancing as if no one else was there,” Mergel wrote.

Larson’s talents and hobbies included skateboarding, playing the piano and dancing.

“He was always dancing,” Kerr said. “When nobody else danced, he would dance with me.”

Larson was also known for his sense of fashion, according to Bennett. Despite making fun of him for wearing women’s pants, she said he rocked them and looked better in them than any woman could. 

In class, Larson was always smiling, his Principles of Marketing Professor, Dr. Stacy Neier Beran, wrote in an email to The Phoenix. 

“He brought energy to his team and to our whole classroom community,” Neier Beran wrote. “We knew when he had arrived, in all the best ways.”

Larson’s kindness brought great strength to his peers, according to Neier Beran.

Sophomore and film and digital media major, Macs Mercer, said one of the most impactful lessons Larson taught him was the importance of not worrying about the little things. Mercer said Larson had a certain way of saying it that made him realize how much he was overthinking.

Kerr said Larson was unlike any other person she had ever met.

“He had been thoroughly saturated in so many different types of goodness and creativity and individuality,” Kerr said.

Max lived everyday to the fullest. One year with him will never be enough, yet it also feels like she got to know him for a lifetime, according to Kerr.