Andrew Mapley, a freshman at Syracuse University might not have been known by everyone on campus, but those in Cato, N.Y. knew him and his family.

‘It’s such a small town that everyone knows everyone,’ said Katy Canning, a sophomore pre-law major who lived in the Mapley’s hometown. ‘The Mapley family has been through so much. My heart goes out to them.’

Mapley, an information technology major, died in a two-car, head-on collision Saturday at approximately 7:20 a.m. He was 18.

‘His friends here at SU, particularly those in the iSchool, who can attend his services should do so-both for themselves and to show his family how loved he was,’ said Chancellor Nancy Cantor in an e-mail.

She asked that the SU flag on the quad be lowered to half-staff through Thursday in honor of his memory.

‘Andrew was really looking forward to going to SU,’ said Megan Post, a close friend of Mapley’s from Cato-Meridian High School. ‘I remember the day he told me that he got accepted. He came up to me with this big smile on his face. It had been a while since I had seen him so happy, so I asked why, and he told me the good news. He gave me a high-five, and then I gave him the biggest hug I could muster up.’

Mapley was driving home after working a midnight to 7 a.m. shift at a FedEx facility in Cato when he crossed the center line into oncoming traffic and collided with a pickup truck. Three people in the truck were also injured.

The driver, Stephen Gigliotti, 43, was treated for a broken foot, and the other two people had minor injuries. All three were taken to University Hospital in Syracuse.

Mapley will be remembered as fun and caring person with a lot of potential.

‘My dad used to coach him in T-ball,’ Canning said. ‘He had so many things going for him.’

Said Post, ‘Everybody loved him. He wasn’t a type of person to come out and say he cared but his actions showed that he did.’

Mapley’s death is truly tragic, Cantor said.

‘He was so young and had so much promise,’ she said. ‘He leaves behind family and friends who are in horrible pain right now. I send my deepest sympathy to them.’

This is the second death in the Mapley family in five years. His brother, Cody died in a snowmobile accident in 2003.

Andrew is survived by his mother, Elizabeth Smithler of Weedsport, father, Michael Mapley, and his six siblings: Richard, 20, Jacob, 13, Zachery LeCuyer, 12, Delainey LeCuyer, 9, Cassandra, 7 and Alexis, 6.

Services for Mapley will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cato Union Church in Cato, N.Y.