Ryan Struebing excelled at life.

He was a doer, not a thinker.

“He was never the kind of person to step on anyone’s toes, but he knew when to pick up the ball when the ball was dropped,” said Bob Dudolski, director of Greek life. “An amazing young man.”

A familiar face to many, now family, friends, Eastern students and his fraternity mourn the loss this week of Struebing, 24, who died in his sleep in the early morning hours on Sunday.

“It’s kind of hard to believe, it just doesn’t seem right,” his friend Songi Kim said.

The word “involved” alone is a weak description for Struebing, who was dedicated to his Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, serving as its president from 1998 to 1999. He served as vice president of recruitment for the Inter-Fraternity Council on campus, was Greek Week king in 1999 and was an associate resident director for Greek Court.

Struebing also had spurts of involvement in the Student Government and as an orientation leader during the summer of 1998.

“He was probably the biggest promoter of what the university had to offer,” Dudolski said. “He loved Eastern.”

Because of Struebing’s involvement at Eastern, friends say he was a familiar face and, to back that up, had a shining, charismatic and outgoing personality.

“He’s just one of those people that, once you meet him, you’ll never forget him,” Kim said. “He definitely made an impact on your life when you met him.

“A genuinely good person.”

Struebing had a way of getting things done. He was a serious student graduating cum laude from Eastern in 2002 with a bachelor’s in communication disorders. He also went on to graduate from Eastern with a master’s degree in communication disorders and recently started a speech therapist job at Westfield Elementary in Algonquin.

But friends say he was humble guy and would rather make people laugh with his “wonderful sense of humor,” then brag, Dudolski said.

“He was hysterical. He could probably make anyone laugh even if you knew him or not,” friend Jen Polkow said. “He just had this charisma about him.”

He was proud of his accomplishments but would never let out how hard he had worked for them.

Never one to talk bad of anyone, Struebing thought of life’s glass as half full.

“For any negative, he always had a positive,” Kim said. “If you ever needed anything from him he would drop anything.”

For the future, Struebing planned to be successful making a difference in children’s lives through his speech therapy. Coming from a strong and close family, Kim said, Struebing wanted to one day continue that in a family of his own.

“He’ll be missed tremendously,” Kim said.

Struebing is survived by his parents James and Anne, of New Holland; three sisters, Meredith (Michael) Toler of Maryland Heights, Mo., Bethany Struebing of Normal and Lindsay Struebing of New Holland; his maternal grandmother, Dorothy Strycharske of Punta Gorda, Fla.; his paternal grandparents, Robert and Mildred Struebing of New Holland; and special friend, Amanda Grindey of Rockford.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Clarence Strycharske.

Visitation was held Wednesday at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln. Services were held Thursday at Holy Family Church in Lincoln, where Struebing was a member.

Memorials may be made to the Ryan J. Struebing Memorial Fund at New Holland Banking Center, New Holland.