Alexander B. "Alex" Hoehn, a restaurant server who had planned to return to college, died July 16 of substance abuse at his Southland Hills home. He was 24.
For the last several years, Mr. Hoehn had struggled to overcome addiction and at one point had been drug-free for 17 months, according to his father, Rick Hoehn, a Towson resident and a landscape architect.
Alexander Bertucci Hoehn was also the son of Lisa Bertucci, a research teacher for alternative education for Howard County's public schools.
He was born in Baltimore and raised in Federal Hill, Mount Washington and in Towson's Southland Hills neighborhood.
He was a 2010 graduate of Towson High School and studied two years at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, as well as a semester at the University of Baltimore.
While in high school, he worked as a dining room server at the Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson and later was a cook at the Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill in Annapolis.
Since January, he had worked as a restaurant server at the University Club at the Towson University Marriott Conference Hotel.
Mr. Hoehn planned to resume his college studies and had been reaccepted at the University of Baltimore at the time of his death.
"Sadly, he passed away only three days prior to being accepted at Towson University," wrote his parents in an email profile of their son. "He would have been so proud."
Mr. Hoehn was recalled as having an infectious smile and a keen ability to make people laugh. "He lifted the spirits of so many," his parents wrote.
"Alex loved sports and was a big Raven fan. He just said the other day that he was looking forward to the fall football season. He also loved March Madness," his father said in an interview. "He was a very athletic guy. He liked working out at the gym."
He said his son played freshman and sophomore basketball at Towson High School and was a member of its tennis team for two years.
He loved animals and children, and cared about the less fortunate. "He would give what he had to those in need, even when he had nothing," wrote his parents.
A celebration of Mr. Hoehn's life will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at the Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Highway, Federal Hill.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by a sister, Antonia "Toni" Bertucci Hoehn of Morristown, N.J.; maternal grandparents Frank and Gloria Bertucci of St. Pete Beach, Fla.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.
— Frederick N. Rasmussen