The death of freshman Brandon Scott Maluff, 19, in a Thursday night automobile accident, left his friends in shock.
"He lived every day like it was his last," said Maluff's girlfriend Mery McMillan.
She said she will remember Maluff as an energetic, adverturous person.
"He brought so much joy to everybody," McMillan, a freshman who graduated with Maluff from Auburn High School, said. "He was always upbeat and optimistic."
Bryan Brock, Maluff's roommate, said the funeral Sunday afternoon at First Baptist Opelika Church was filled with people who loved him.
"It didn't matter who it was, he was always there for everyone," Brock said. "He meant a lot to everyone for sure. He touched so many lives."
Brock, a freshman in aerospace engineering and 2008 Auburn High School graduate, said he has known Maluff since he moved to Auburn from LaGrange, Ga. four years ago. He said he has many fond memories of time spend with Maluff.
"We go to the lake a lot during the summer, and I've never been camping without him," he said. "He was always the life of the party."
McMillan, who has been dating Maluff since April of last year, said Maluff embodied a fun-loving spirit until the day he died.
"The last time I talked to him he was at Academy Sports," McMillan said. "He said he wanted to buy a Speedo as a joke."
She said she has been overwhelmed by the impact Maluff made on Auburn.
"It's amazing to know he made so big of an impact," she said. "He knew everybody and it's evident the amount of people he impacted."
Alexandra Tucci, who also graduated with Maluff from Auburn High School in 2008, said Maluff was an important part of her high school.
"The thing that makes Brandon's death so shocking is that he was so alive," she said. "It's just hard to believe that someone so vibrant, so bright, so actively living could pass away."
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