PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island College is mourning the loss of one of its students, junior David Louis Cunha of Smithfield, who died Monday.
Cunha, 21, was majoring in Mass Media Communications, was active with community service and had worked as a Rhode Island Senate page and on political campaigns, according to an email that Rhode Island College President Nancy Carriuolo shared with the college community.
Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin led a moment of silence in the state Senate on Tuesday on Cunha’s behalf.
“I think most of us have heard by now that one of our young pages, David Cunha, was taken suddenly,” Goodwin said. ” He was an asset here to the chamber, and Madame president, I would like all of us to remember not only David but his family for a moment.
Sen. President Teresa Paiva-Weed asked “all of our pages to join us on the floor here today. And if you have a moment here today before you leave, to thank them because they are very much a part of our Senate family, as was David.”
A 2012 graduate of Smithfield High School, Cunha was also a member of the National Honor Society, according to his online obituary. He worked for the past six years for Rhode Island Senator Stephen R. Archambault and former Senator John Tassoni. He also worked as an intern for former General Treasurer Frank Caprio, according to his obituary, which does not list a cause of death.
The college flag will be lowered this week in Cunha’s memory, Carriuolo said. Details about his funeral arrangements are in the obituary.