Miles Reme left an impression on everyone he met with his positivity and individuality.

“The one thing that sums it all up about my son is he had the most outgoing personality,” said Debbie Reme, Miles’ mother. “Everybody, when they have something to say about him, it’s his contagious laughter and smile.”

Reme, 20, died Thursday as the result of injuries sustained in a car accident in Ridgefield, N.J. He was a sophomore economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences, and lived in Flint Hall and Day Hall during his time at Syracuse University.

Debbie Reme said her son had always wanted to go to SU. He was “a big sports guy,” and loved Syracuse’s basketball team, she said. Miles made great friends while at SU, she added and he was excited to start taking courses toward his major instead of the required liberal arts classes.

Alex Gentry, a junior industrial design major, met Reme when they were 13 at a friend’s bar mitzvah in Fort Lee, N.J., and the two became friends. When Reme got into SU, he and Gentry quickly decided they would live together during their first year.

“I said to him the happiest day of my life to that point was finding out he was going to Syracuse,” Gentry said. “I was so excited knowing I was going to school with this kid the next four years.”

While the two were living together, Gentry said one time Reme climbed onto the roof above the stairs leading up to Mount Olympus. When a few students passed by underneath, Reme screamed and surprised them.

“He just loved to do funny things,” Reme’s mother said. “He was a big joker, but he had an unbelievable heart.”

In addition to his sense of humor, Gentry said Reme had an incredible sense of style, and was unlike any other person he knew. Gentry said he and his friends would talk about how Reme could’ve been in “Esquire” or GQ. Reme was known to wear Balenciaga sneakers, Alexander Wang and selvedge denim, Gentry said.

“He did what he wanted, he looked different than anyone else,” he said. “And he wasn’t a poser. He was never trying to act a certain way that he wasn’t.”

Gentry also remembered Reme for being a supportive and kind friend. While the two were roommates, Gentry had a girlfriend who lived in Connecticut. When it was tough for Gentry being away from her, Reme would make him laugh and offer to go home with Gentry to visit her, Gentry said.

“He just wanted to make me happy and be a good guy,” he said.

Billy Bleifer, a junior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, met Reme during the second semester of their freshmen year, and also saw firsthand the kind of friend Reme was. Bleifer said one time leaving a party, a few guys said something to him. Though Bleifer was initially annoyed, he let it go, but said Reme followed them across campus to stand up for him.

Bleifer called Reme “the best friend somebody could ask for,” adding that he was funny and ambitious.

“He was a great kid,” Bleifer said. “Truly one of a kind.”

Published on July 30, 2014 at 10:39 pm

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27