Jayden Brieske, a 19-year-old sophomore at Kent State University studying business, passed Friday after suffering complications from fall-related injuries.

Late Wednesday night, he and his friends climbed onto the roof of the University Inn apartments. During his climb down, Brieske slipped and fell to the concrete.

While grappling with his nephew’s death, Brieske’s uncle, Jake Gordon, talked about the person Brieske was and the impact he left on those around him.

“He had a really, really bright future,” Gordon said. “He touched a lot of people in a positive way.”

Gordon said Brieske grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, and decided to attend Kent State when he got a substantial academic scholarship. He commuted to campus while living with his uncle’s family in Hudson, which includes Gordon, his wife and their two sons who are ten and five years old.

Gordon said Brieske had a good relationship with them all, always making an effort to spend time with them in the mornings and at night.

“He would come upstairs with us to put the boys in bed,” Gordon said. “We’d all say our little prayer, we’d sing a little song and then he would come downstairs and watch TV with us … so we just have a lot of those good memories.”

Every week, Brieske took his cousins to Sky Zone to give his aunt and uncle a break, Gordon said. The family went to Guardians games and dinners together, and Brieske often visited his immediate family back home.

He worked at Culver’s in Wisconsin for multiple years, and when he moved to Ohio, he got a job at the Heinen’s in Hudson. Despite only living in Hudson for a little over a year, Gordon said he made an impact on their neighborhood. He said the people at Heinen’s knew Brieske as the nice boy they always liked having as their cashier.

“He never called in sick,” Gordon said. “He just never really seemed too stressed about stuff. Never really was negative much.”

Gordon said Brieske always put his family first. He also enjoyed hanging out with his friends from school and had dreams of working in the car industry in some form, something he was always interested in, and studying abroad, which they talked about quite a bit.

“He was really excited about that,” Gordon said. “I think that might have been something he would have looked into pretty soon.”

Overall, Gordon described Brieske as quiet but a “goofball.”

“Like I said, when we did that prayer and song, he would dance, and the kids laughed every time,” Gordon said, “So he was just sweet and nice.”

Kent State released a statement, saying, “We are deeply saddened to learn about the death of Jayden Brieske … The Kent State community sends its thoughts and prayers to Jayden’s family, friends and all who knew and loved him.”

A GoFundMe was set up to help Brieske’s family pay the medical expenses from the final days of his life and has already raised over $12,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

“They fought for two days to keep him alive,” Gordon said. “Every little bit helps.”

A funeral service will take place at Sturino Funeral Home in Racine, Wisconsin, Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“The family is overwhelmed,” Gordon said. “We’re feeling very sad, but it’s nice to hear that people knew how nice he was.”

Lauren Cohen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].