Lewis Kelley and Matt Murphy have been friends for as long as Kelley can remember.

The duo played on the same little league team when they were young and attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School together. After graduation, the friends planned to live together at Syracuse University, but were unable to because of Murphy’s health.

Murphy, 19, died due to complications from leukemia at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse on Thursday, Kelley said. He battled cancer for approximately four years.

‘Matt was literally the nicest kid I have ever met; he was universally loved by everyone. There couldn’t have been a nicer kid for this to happen to,’ Kelley said in an email. ‘He was always smiling, even when he was in the hospital.’

Murphy was accepted to SU’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications for the fall 2010 semester but deferred his enrollment each semester due to his illness.

Kelley, a sophomore economics major, said Murphy wanted to be a sports broadcaster because of his love for baseball, basketball and golf.

‘He was a loyal fan of the Red Sox — the biggest fan in our school,’ Kelley said.

Murphy was the operator and owner of Matt Murphy Designs — a collection of his artwork that he made into greeting cards after high school, Kelley said.

Brandt Hale, a sophomore television, radio and film major, met Murphy at Accepted Students Day in spring 2010. Hale said he sat next to Murphy and his father during the opening presentation in Goldstein Auditorium and, after realizing they were both prospective Newhouse students, the two quickly exchanged information.

‘I just remember meeting him and talking to him and saying that ‘these are the kind of kids that I want to be surrounded with for the next four years,” Hale said, noting that Murphy was polite and outgoing.

Hale said they stayed in touch during the following summer, but Murphy told Hale before moving in that Murphy had health problems he had to manage before starting classes at SU. Hale said he was uncertain of what these issues were, but he felt awful because he knew how motivated Murphy was.

‘You could tell how excited he was to be a Newhouse student,’ he said. ‘That’s the part that has really affected me the most. He never got to come here, and he wanted to so badly.’

Thomas Wolfe, the senior vice president and dean of student affairs at SU, said the university has reached out to Murphy’s family and encourages any students affected by the loss to contact the Counseling Center or Hendricks Chapel.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville, according to an obituary on The Post-Standard website. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Dewitt.

Kelley and Hale both plan to attend the funeral to honor their friend.

‘He was someone that I was lucky to just know because he made me a better person and realize how important every second of life is,’ Kelley said. ‘He lived his 19 years of life to the fullest.’

egsawyer@syr.edu

Published on October 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Liz: egsawyer@syr.edu | @3sawyer