St. Bonaventure University President Dr. Dennis DePerro passed away Sunday night after his battle with COVID-19, according to the university.

Dr. Perro was the 21^st president of the university, leading St. Bonaventure for close to four years.

His colleagues described Dr. Perro as joyful with a convivial spirit.

“Words simply can’t convey the level of devastation our campus community feels right now,” said Dr. Joseph Zimmer in a statement, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “I know when people die it’s become cliché to say things like, ‘He was a great leader, but an even better human being,’ and yet, that’s the absolute truth with Dennis. We are heartbroken.”

Zimmer was named acting president late last month while Dr. Perro was in recovery. The board of trustees will convene to begin executing a plan of succession for the university president, read an email to the campus community.

Dr. DePerro was admitted to a Syracuse hospital December 29 after testing positive for the COVID-19 on Christmas Eve, according to the university. He had been placed on a ventilator in mid-January.

The university flag will fly at half-staff in his honor through the end of the month.

“His humanity, his insight, his ability to listen to all sides, his sense of humor – all of that made him a great leader,” said Tom Missel, chief communications officer. “What I’ll miss more than anything was his uncanny ability to make you feel better even on your worst days. He had a unique gift. I loved that man with all my heart. I know there are thousands of people who would say the same thing.

"He was just a tremendous guy. If you knew him 20 minutes and just got to meet him, you'd walk away going I want to know that guy more. He just had it, just the type of personality you would just want to get to know him better which just extends the grief that we all have." 

"I actually knew Dr. DePerro fairly well so I met him as a first semester freshman when I was working on a story and ever since then we had an awesome working relationship, he actually helped me be the first one to break that he wanted the bishop of Buffalo at the time Bishop Malone to resign,” said Meghan Hall, a St. Bonaventure junior.

Hall, who is St. Bonaventure's student government executive board vice president, says this is a sad loss mainly because of the type of person DePerro was. 

"He was extremely compassionate, an excellent leader, but also an amazing person and I think that's something that you don't always see with university administrators, of course, you see the work that they do behind the scenes sort of like you see how it affects you as a student but with Dr. DePerro, whether you knew him very personally or not super personally, you also could see how radiant of a person he was," she said.

"A fond memory is when St. Bonaventure ended up beating Syracuse in Syracuse and it was a great time and everybody was able to celebrate together, and it was a big achievement obviously for the university and to see him fully understand what this meant to the entire university community. It really again if his eyes weren't open then, they were definitely opened at that point," said Terrance Neidl, a St. Bonaventure alumnus.

Neidl describes DePerro as a leader who led with his heart and helped get the university through trials and tribulations. He considers him one of those quality individuals who just don't come around every day. 

"We're very glad to have been able to know him and been able to be lucky enough to be part of his life when he was here,” he said.