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First-year student Nelson Ho remembered as selfless friend with 'larger than life' personality

Nelson Ho

By Samantha Masunaga

Feb. 23, 2012 8:11 a.m.

Nelson Ho, a first-year electrical engineering student, died Feb. 15 of an undetermined illness at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He was 18.

A San Francisco native, Ho quickly found a new family with his Rieber Hall floormates. He readily broke the ice with his neighbors and got to know a majority of the people he lived with, said Randy Yu, a first-year biochemistry student and Ho’s roommate and childhood friend.

“He was able to bring out the social aspect of a person,” Yu said. “He’s always been the guy who would be bringing along the conversation.”

With his humorous and witty comments, there was never a dull moment with Ho around, said Vivian Li, a first-year environmental science student and one of Ho’s floormates.

He loved to tell stories, and often had an audience who would halt their own conversations just to listen to him.

Outside of the dorms, Ho and his floormates would celebrate birthdays at restaurants, or spend time at the obstacle course.

During winter break, Li and another floormate went to San Francisco to visit Ho and Yu, and the group watched fireworks together on New Year’s after attending the UCLA bowl game.

Beyond the fun and outgoing exterior, Ho had a reputation for being selfless and always willing to help his friends.

“He was larger than life,” Li said. “Even though we just knew each other for five months, I felt like I knew him forever.”

Ho’s unexpected death shocked his friends, especially those from his high school who had not seen or talked to him in several weeks.

When news broke via Facebook, Sol Granados, a first-year journalism and broadcasting student from San Jose State University, decided to honor her longtime friend’s memory in her own way. She created a Facebook event that encouraged attendees to wear blue in memory of Ho and his favorite color.

Granados initially invited 500 people. Over the next few days, the number of attendees shot to 860.

“I figured he could look down from heaven and see all of the people wearing blue for him,” she said.

“Every time I saw that number (of attendees) grow, I realized I wasn’t the only one who loved him and that he had touched so many lives.”

This was a point emphasized by his cousin, Julie Hung.

“He was always there for his younger cousins, especially his brother,” Hung said. “(His brother) looked up to him a lot ““ practically idolized him.”

Hung described her cousin as a high achiever who was smart, athletic and always lively.

“He didn’t waste any time in his life,” she said. “He used every moment wisely and never wasted anything.”

Ho was born on March 16, 1993. He graduated from Lowell High School in 2011 and made a name for himself on the track team.

During his high school career, he broke several city and state records in track and long jump.

He is survived by his parents, Jennie and Eric; and his younger brother, Calvin. Funeral services will be held Sunday near San Francisco.

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Samantha Masunaga
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