He was headed for Paradise: Remembering Frank de Leon Compres

The legacy:

Christian Rodriguez describes Frank Marino de Leon Compres as the little brother he never had. They’re both from the Dominican Republic, they love to dance, laugh, workout, and they worked together in on-campus housing. They were so close that Compres had Rodriguez’s credit card and they planned their future together. There was a small chance they wanted to go to Arizona together to pursue master’s degrees. This weekend, they had planned to visit either Bear Lake or Las Vegas. 

But none of those plans will ever happen.

Compres died Monday afternoon in an airplane crash in Hyrum while flying one of the Utah State University Aviation Technology Program’s planes.

A vigil was held Thursday on the Quad in his honor. Nearly 200 people showed up in mostly black clothes to pay their respects to Compres and his family, who came to the memorial from the Dominican Republic. They shared stories and hugs as the as the sun set.

“He loved what he did,” Rodriguez said. “Flying was his life. If there was a way that he wanted to die, it was through flying. But it was too soon.”

Rodriguez said Compres was down-to-earth, fun-loving and known for his genuine smile. He said he was concerned about global issues, from children who were stuck in Syria to environmentalism on campus. Compres was responsible for organizing turning off the “A” on Old Main Hill periodically to save electricity. He was also involved as a resident assistant, president of the International Student Council and a member of the Dominican Republic Student Association. On top of that, Compres was studious and loved volleyball and soccer.

Rodriguez said Compres was so positive that it seemed like he never had a bad day.

“Frank was positive,” he said. “Frank was driven. Frank was thinking of things in the future. He was an example for everyone. If there was someone on this Earth who didn’t deserve this, it was Frank because Frank never harmed anyone. Frank was always happy. Frank was full of energy.”

Rodriguez said he’s been down since Compres death, but during the vigil he heard a piece of advice that refortified him.

“Now, I’ve got to get stronger because I have to work for both of us,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the goal now. Everything I do I will do it as if I am working for the two of us.”

Compres was a part of the International Student Council. Rob Llewellyn with the Office of Global Engagement said the council purchased black wristbands that read “family, love, service” on one side and “RIP Frank, smile.” Llewellyn said those words describe Compres’ leadership qualities.

“We decided the best way to do what was with these wristbands, so we could have a way to carry on Frank’s legacy throughout the year,” he said.

He said one of Compres’ goals this year was to make the ISC more united.

“One thing Frank was working on was trying to get USUSA and other leadership groups on campus to feel like they were part of ISC family,” Llewellyn said. “He’s also a loyal friend. He is very service-oriented and is involved in many different areas, which was apparent last night with how many people showed who showed up to support Frank and his family.”

Shelly Ortiz, the program coordinator for the Office of Global Engagement and the counselor for the Dominican club, said Compres gave those around him confidence.

“Oh my gosh, what didn’t he offer?” she said. “He offered energy, zeal, enthusiasm. What we love about him is all of his energy that he wanted to help people. He was always helping.”

Dennis Kohler, the vice president for Student Affairs, said he loved working with Compres because he was wise beyond his years.

“He really was a bright shining star of the USU community,” he said.

Llewellyn said Compres will truly be missed.

“In the summer, having 200 people go up to a vigil they should only imagine how many people would show up if this was in the middle of the year where all of the students who were actually on campus, because of how many lives he touched,” he said.

The scholarship:

A scholarship was set up in his memory for future Aviation Technology program students. To help with the fund, the Compres family donated Frank Compres’ car to be sold to raise money for the scholarship. On top of that, the family donated his tools and books to give to an aviation maintenance student.

“We know that we lost a life. We lost an incredible human being,” Rodriguez said. “But with this scholarship, we would be changing someone else’s life. So this is an opportunity to help someone else.”

Andreas Wesemann with USU’s Aviation Technology program said Compres passed all of his tests from the Federal Aviation Administration and received his professional pilot license. He was expected to graduate spring of 2017.

“But he actually had over 140 credits,” Wesemann said. “He completed everything for his degree. He was ready to graduate with his first degree in maintenance management, he was just working on additional courses. They completed the course and gave him a degree.”

Ken White, dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, presented the family with Compres’ graduation diploma.

The investigation:

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the conditions of the airplane that crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating weather conditions and air traffic control logs.

“It may take some time before we know some answers,” he said. “I know these are the best maintained airplanes.”

Wesemann said Diamond Aircraft gave USU’s aviation program high ratings for the maintenance of its airplanes.

“This was the first known fatality known in the history of our program,” he said. “Frank was one of the sharpest students.”

Many of Compres’ aviation test scores were even higher than a lot of the native English speakers.

“Every instructor said that it was most surprising it was him because that’s not him,” Wesemann said. “He’s meticulous, he pays attention to detail, he understands things better than half the instructors because he’s a maintenance individual. He knows how to build these airplanes as well as how to maintain them.”

The last moments:

Compres showed up for his solo flight training with a big smile on his face. He was there early to check the maintenance of the plane before he took off.

Before he left, one of the flight instructors asked Compres which air training area he was headed to. Compres said he was headed toward the Southern flight training area in the Hyrum-Paradise area.

“Frank told the instructor, ‘I’m going Paradise,’” Wesemann said.