Classmates of 18 year-old Conrad Mangus remembered him Saturday night at the high school prom.
"He was so lively,” said sophomore student Lia Miller. “He was funny with everyone. He was just a really great guy and for it to be this close to him graduating it just wasn't right.”
Mangus was a few weeks away from graduating from North Union High School.
He was taking most of his senior classes at the Tri-Rivers Career Center in Marion where he loved to create digital content but that all came to a tragic end this week.
Police said Mangus and two other students were swimming in Richwood Lake Friday afternoon when something went terribly wrong.
The teenager, who reportedly wasn't a good swimmer, drifted into a sudden drop-off in the lake and went under.
His friends couldn't save him and dive teams later recovered his body in 12-feet of water.
"It is always a great sadness and loss when you lose a student of this age,” said North Union Local School District Superintendent Rick Smith.
He said the district felt it was important to go ahead with Saturday's prom and brought in crisis counselors to help students cope with this tragedy.
"Students are going to gather somewhere and so we thought the safest place for them to gather was here at the school where they have their friends and staff members to support them,” he said.
Students at the prom wore special ribbons to remember Mangus, who friends say loved video games.
Hours earlier on Saturday they painted a rock on the school property which will serve as a tribute and memorial to the young man.
"He was in digital media and entertainment at Tri-Rivers and he was very good at it,” said Miller. “He made a lot of cartoons.”
"And [he] was looking forward to graduating in a few weeks and having a successful life so it is very disappointing,” said Smith.
Miller said the young man’s death has really hit the student body hard.
“Not a lot of things happen like this in Richwood,” said Miller “It is a very small town and something this serious is going to hit everyone."
Superintendent Smith said the senior class is planning to hold a fundraiser at the school next week.
They're hoping to collect money to help the family with funeral expenses.