Miguel Lorenzo Roncal, a chemical and molecular engineering major and commuter student at Stony Brook University, died Friday morning, one week after being involved in a single car accident. He was 20 years old.

“This is a devastating loss to all, especially Miguel’s family and friends,” Dean of Students Timothy Ecklund said in an email to the campus community Friday evening. “On behalf of the Office of Student Affairs, I express heartfelt condolences to all who knew and cared for Miguel.”

Roncal was a member of Stony Brook’s chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

“He was one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met,” friend Andy Cheng, a senior studying chemical and molecular engineering, said in an email. “I’ve never seen him upset or angry. He always had a sense of humor and could make everyone around him smile and laugh no matter how bad of a day they were having.”

Newsday reported that Roncal was driving a 1998 Ford Explorer on the night of Friday, Oct. 9 on Nichols Road in Centereach with four passengers, who were also Stony Brook students, when he lost control of his vehicle and hit the median.

The five students were transported to University Hospital. One student was listed as being in serious condition and another in critical condition while the other three were not seriously injured and were released from the hospital, Ecklund said in another email sent on Saturday, Oct. 10.

Visitation is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17 from 7 to 9 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. at Ruland Funeral Home, 500 North Ocean Ave. in Patchogue, according to the Dean of Students website.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19 at 9:45 a.m. at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 495 North Ocean Ave. in Patchogue. Burial will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, 3442 Route 112 in Coram.

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