When Joe Leone went home during Ohio University breaks, he made it a priority to attend his younger sister's softball games.
He volunteered to head the fundraiser committee for the business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi.
He was looking forward mentoring a child without a father Fall Quarter as part of the Big Brother/Big Sisters program.
And he was excited to live with his friends, Mike Kushlan and Ben Clark.
Clark, a junior history major, worked with Leone during the summer at the Boardwalk Restaurant in Put-in-Bay. He was with Leone the night he died.
Leone, a 20-year-old finance major from Steubenville, drowned in Lake Erie Aug. 26. Many on the island jump off ferry boats into the water to take a night swim, Clark said. Leone's mother, Maribeth, said it was an end-of-summer tradition.
Me and Joe were like
'no let's not do it.' We were both pretty afraid of heights he said. We jumped off and I was having fun
but the second my head came up I panicked. I was scared to death I would drown. The waves were huge. There are these two huge ferry boats pounding on both sides making even bigger waves.
When Clark finally made it up on the dock, he noticed Leone was missing.
I was not thinking he was in trouble. I'm thinking he's right behind me. Once I went underwater
I never saw him again.
Lt. Travis Campbell of the Put-in-Bay Police said Leone was in the water by the Miller Ferry Dock at 2:45 a.m., but was not found until about 4:50 a.m. He was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. He said the coroner, Dr. Gilbert Bucholz, believed alcohol was involved, but would not be able to confirm until the toxicology results are ready next month.
Clark said he and his friends waited for two hours while people searched for him.
It's burned in my head forever
he said. It's just awful. But
I don't have one bad memory of Joe except for that night. He was just an awesome person.
Friends would call Leone grandpa because he always looked out for everyone, Clark said.
During the summer, Leone talked excitedly about going back to school and spending Halloween weekend with his twin brother, Nick, who had only visited him at OU a few times, Clark said.
One of (Joe's) favorite things at OU was Halloween ... last year he dressed up like a present and put a bow tie on and ribbons and bows and said he was 'God's gift to women
' his mother said. Whenever there was something like that
he would love to get the costumes. Like in eighth grade, when it was backwards day, he had his mother button his shirt on his back, along with his tie. He'd always come up with creative and ingenious costumes.
Leone never fought with Nick, Maribeth said. They liked being twins
even though the boys said they hated the twin jokes ...they were like best friends.
Leone was proud of his younger sister, Gina, because she made the volleyball team as a freshman. He planned to see two of her games before OU started. Leone ran varsity track four years and played football for three at Steubenville Central Catholic High School, so he supported her interest in sports, Maribeth said.
He was the greatest big brother to his little sister
Gina
