A memorial service for Fiyinfoluwa Onarinde, a 31-year-old doctoral candidate from Nigeria who died last month, is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Calvary Campus Church.

Onarinde was found dead in his apartment at the 500 block of South Logan Street on Oct. 22, according to police. The cause of death is uncertain, but foul play is not suspected, police said.

Onarinde began coursework toward a Ph.D in English at the university this fall, according to university spokesperson Rae Goldsmith. The service was organized by a few of his colleagues from the English department.

Robert Fox, a professor of English at the university, knew Onarinde through his continental literature class. Onarinde was also his teaching assistant.

“I felt I had a bit more of a connection with him than a typical student because of the link with my wife’s home country,” Fox said.  

Fox described Onarinde as a bright, modest young man and called his death a tragic loss.

Onarinde received a bachelors degree in English from Osun State Polytechnic, and a masters degree in communication from the University of Adoekiti, both in Nigeria, before moving to the U.S. on a Fulbright scholarship to teach Yoruba — his native language — at SIU-Edwardsville in 2014. 

“He just had a kind soul,” said Cheryl Lombard, who met Onarinde through an international student-exchange program while he was teaching at SIUE. “[My husband and I] were shocked and saddened greatly.”

Bill Lukitsch can be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter @Bill_LukitschDE.