UCA announced the death of Joseph Whittington via email on Feb. 19. 

The sophomore would have been 20 on March 13. 

Joseph was a member of UCA’s Robotics Club, Society of Physics and Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. 

His grandparents, Johnny and Dorothy Whittington, described Joseph as incredibly adventurous, even at a young age. 

“In his 20 years of life, he had touched so many people and had so much adventure. He’s done more than a lot of people,” Dorothy said. “A lot of people are born, they stay in the same place, they die in the same place. But he had so full of a life for such a short life. I think he’s done more in his 20 years than I’ve done in my 80.”

Joseph lived in Nova Scotia briefly at the age of two but moved to Alaska with his mother at age four. He remained in Alaska until he turned nine, Johnny said. 

Joseph enjoyed skateboarding and art, though he also maintained his academics. He graduated from Genoa High School with a 4.0-grade point average. 

Joseph became a physics major once at UCA.

Hypatia Meraviglia, a co-member of Joseph in both the Society of Physics Students and the UCA Robotics Club, said, “Joseph was a kind and brilliant member of our team [UCA Robotics Club]. He collaborated well on the bots, taking others’ ideas seriously and helping new members learn.” 

Meraviglia said Joseph planned on competing in the group’s first in-person competition the weekend his death was announced.

“In the Society of Physics Students, he was one of our most involved and enthusiastic sophomores, joining in discussion and helping us refine goals for the year,” Meraviglia said.

As a member of Phi Sigma Kappa, Joseph bonded with the brothers of his fraternity. His fraternity brother, Caleb Winston, recalled Joseph as a committed and hard-working friend. 

“He would work his absolute butt off to help out his fraternity and his friends,” Winston said. “For me, personally, Jojo would stick up for me when nobody else would. He could walk into a quiet room, and within 20 seconds, everybody would be dying laughing.”

Winston said Joseph was a talented artist and a “damn good foosball player.”

“He was amazing with art, so we are wanting a piece of his to be put up at UCA,” Winston said. 

Joseph’s grandfather Johnny said that beyond being a good artist, Joseph was an incredibly driven individual.

“When he’d take on a project or a cause, he was determined. He didn’t care,” Johnny said. “When he believed in something, he was just adamant about it. He was very strong.”

A visitation for Joseph was held Wednesday, Feb. 23, with his funeral taking place the following day. 

A GoFundMe was organized by Whittington’s family, which raised nearly $9,000 through small donations for the service. 

Dorothy said that Joseph’s impact was very clear during his funeral.

“You would’ve seen how much he was loved. He just lit up the whole room,” Dorothy said. “The whole place was packed out. He just touched everybody’s life.”