LSA freshman John Mitchell died Saturday morning at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City after a week in a drug-induced coma following a snowboarding accident. He was 18.
Mitchell’s funeral will be held on Thursday at St. Aidan’s church in Livonia.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday 2 to 9 p.m. at the Will Harry J. funeral home on Six Mile Road in Livonia.
He was born on June 17, 1987 and grew up in Livonia with his mother Chris, father Harold and sister Katie.
With Mitchell’s clothes still hanging in his closet and personal effects still resting on an empty desk, his longtime friend and roommate, LSA freshman Josh Wilson, described him as “the greatest guy I have ever had the pleasure to know.”
Wilson said Mitchell was a great athlete who loved sports and his girlfriend of five years.
“(Mitchell) brought everyone around him up,” he said.
Wilson remembered his friend’s sense of humor, reminiscing about lying across from each other in the lofted beds of Mary Markley Residence Hall. Mitchell would yell “torpedo” and launch a soft object across the room, lightening the mood after a hard night of studying.
In high school, Mitchell was a varsity basketball player and an all-conference track runner who also volunteered as a reading tutor.
He was contemplating applying to the business school or a medical school.
LSA freshman Linda Sobh said Mitchell was someone she could confide in.
“His friends relied on him,” said Chris Mitchell, his mother.
Sobh said Mitchell was the kind of person who would leave a party to “walk someone home and make sure they were OK.”
“I wish everyone would have had the pleasure to meet him,” Wilson said.