Ben Peters, 22, a well-known NIU graduate student, died on Jan. 10 in his home in Morton, Ill. He had battled leukemia since November 2003.

He earned his bachelor of science degree in business in May 2004 and promptly began taking summer classes toward his master’s degree in accountancy.

“He touched the lives of everyone in the business department he came in contact with,” said Emily Lane, a friend of Ben’s and an NIU graduate accounting student. “He was very funny. Even while he was sick, he was still making jokes and helping his friends.”

To those who knew Ben well, before and after his diagnosis, he was a student leader, a bright mind, an inspiration to those around him and a lover of NIU.

“He made a significant, positive impact on all of us,” said accountancy professor Curt Norton. “You couldn’t find anyone who didn’t like Ben.”

Family members, friends and teachers gathered to remember Ben Thursday morning in Bartonville, Ill.

The people who had come across Ben’s “fun-loving personality” came together on numerous occasions to raise funds to help Ben ease the costs of continuing school while undergoing treatment.

“His roommates and friends helped him a lot and affected the whole group of people that came through the NIU accounting department,” Norton said.

Similarly, Lane and Tracy Dekruiff, an accountancy masters student, said Ben made sure he helped his friends get through the past year without worrying too much.

“He was very well known and well liked,” said accountancy professor Sally Webber. “It was reflected in the way the community of students supported him in the last year of his life.”

Ben’s effect on his community has become more clear after his passing. Teachers and students alike are praising Ben’s presentation of himself – as a student suffering from leukemia with dignity and without complaint while trying to achieve his goal of having a successful future.

“Ben would go to Chicago, to Rush Hospital in the morning for chemotherapy, and then come back to DeKalb for my class in the afternoon,” said accountancy professor Don Tedrick who saw Ben succeed in the classroom both before and after his diagnosis.

“He had the motivation to overcome any weakness he found in himself,” said Mike Usalis, Ben’s roommate and longtime friend. “While fighting his cancer with more drugs than any of us could keep track of, he truly believed he would win,” he said.

Ben was laid to rest Thursday morning in his NIU sweatshirt and hat, a testament to “the institutional love of his life,” Tedrick said.

NIU and the accounting department are in the process of creating a memorium to remember Ben.