The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Junior Stedman Gage remembered as happy, loyal

	Stedman Gage

Stedman Gage

Friends and family are mourning the loss of Stedman Gage, a UNC junior who died Friday night.

Gage, the son of former UNC-system Board of Governors Chairwoman Hannah Gage, was 22.

Police responded to an off-campus location late Friday night, said Chuck Quinlan, watch commander for the Chapel Hill Police Department, on Saturday. The person was dead on arrival, Quinlan said, and officers did not find anything suspicious at the scene.

The cause of death has not been released, and the investigation is ongoing, Quinlan said.

“This is a devastating tragedy, and our family is handling the situation as best we can,” according to a statement from the Gage family. “We are heartbroken. We ask for your compassion and respect, for our privacy and that of our son.”

Chase Carbone, president of UNC’s chapter of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, of which Gage was a member, said a memorial service has been planned for Gage on Tuesday in Wilmington, his hometown.

“We offer our condolences to the Gage family in their time of grief,” Carbone said in a statement on behalf of the fraternity. “They are in our thoughts and prayers.”

Junior Sarah Chow, a friend of Gage’s, said in an email that his friends and family were the most important thing to him.

“He was an amazing person, but always thought he was right. He wasn’t, but everyone loved him for this. He would never give up what he was fighting for, which came through in trivial times like little arguments, but also showed through when he was supporting a friend. He always had a smile on his face; he was just an incredible friend.”

Sophomore Forrest Finch, a friend of Gage’s, said he was a fun-loving person with an endearing sense of humor.

“I know he loved his school, he loved his fraternity, he loved his friends,” Finch said.

“He really loved his friends.”

Finch said Gage distinguished himself as a happy person who was especially warm around his friends.

“He always included me in an exceptional way. Stedman always made an effort to be kind to me.”

Gage is the fourth UNC student to die unexpectedly this academic year. Chancellor Holden Thorp sent an email to the UNC community Saturday, extending his condolences.

“Please keep Stedman’s family and friends in your thoughts as we mourn this latest loss,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

Special Print Edition
The Daily Tar Heel's 2024 Music Edition