'A very special individual': Friends remember Iowan, 21, who died swimming at Lake Red Rock

Urias Gbarjolo was a rising senior at the University of Dubuque, a multisport athlete and a talent behind a camera lens.

But tragedy ended his promising future.

The 21-year-old from Johnston died Memorial Day weekend after he went under the water at Lake Red Rock and didn't resurface. His body was found the next day.

Gbarjolo would have been entering his senior year this fall at the University of Dubuque, where he was studying digital art and design. He played wide receiver for the football team during his freshman year and was listed as a hurdler on the men's track and field roster for the 2022-23 season.

He graduated from Valley High School in West Des Moines in 2020, where he also played football and ran track. He recorded six tackles and an interception as a senior during the 2019 football season for Valley, which went 12-1 and reached the Class 4A state title game. He ran on the shuttle hurdle relay team that won the state title and set an all-time state record in 2019.

Friends and teammates describe Gbarjolo as a talented and community-orientated person on and off the track. 

“He was my first friend when I came to the University of Dubuque,” Jack Daguanno, of Oregon, Wisconsin, said in an interview with the Des Moines Register. “He was a very special individual. I’ve never met such a peaceful human being in my entire life.”

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Gbarjolo and Daguanno first met during their freshman year at football camp in the fall of 2020. The two bonded and were roommates.

Johannan Frost, also known as “JoJo,” met Gbarjolo through a friend. Gbarjolo was playing football at the time but mentioned to Frost in their first conversation that he missed competing in track and field.

At the urging of Frost, a hurdles champion, Gbarjolo joined the team a month later, and a brotherhood was formed. Gbarjolo, who was not new to the sport, quickly told Frost he was “looking forward to getting a ring” — a reference to winning a championship. 

The transition from football to track and field seemed to be good for Gbarjolo, something his roommate, Daguanno, said he noticed.

"Ever since he joined the track team, the whole family loved him," Daguanno said.

Gbarjolo also was a digital media artist and photographer. Frost noticed Gbarjolo was always taking pictures during their track meets.

“I just knew he was cold behind the camera,” said Frost, referring to his talents at capturing images.

His friends said even outside of meets, he was always close to his camera and working in the computer lab late at night. Daguanno said Gbarjolo was working to expand his photography portfolio.  

“He would go around 5 p.m. (to the computer lab) after track practice and wouldn’t be back into the room until 4 in the morning,” Daguanno said.

Frost said he was getting ready for church on Sunday morning when he received an unexpected call from a close friend at 7 a.m.

“I had a weird feeling about answering the call,” Frost said. “On the phone (his friend) was just instantly crying. He said, ‘Hey, bro, I got some bad news. Urias is gone.’”   

Frost was left speechless. The two, who were also neighbors, built a strong connection from watching anime and basketball.  

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Daguanno said they enjoyed fishing trips on the Mississippi River and watching the sunset together. 

“He would’ve been one of the most successful students coming from Dubuque,” he said. “You can tell from the way he communicated with his professors that everyone loved him.” 

When contacted by the Register, Gbarjolo's family declined to comment.

The Office of the President at the University of Dubuque released a statement Tuesday to the student body, faculty and staff that said: "There are no words that can lessen the pain that we feel as a family and a community for this loss. But as we grieve, we do this together and we place our pain in God’s hands, knowing that we are not alone in our sorrow — and in our healing."

His friends say Gbarjolo will be greatly missed.

“Urias has a boatload of friends and a boatload of people he has affected,” Frost said. “As you can see on social media, the guy has affected so many people and touched so many hearts.”

“The world will not be the same without him,” Daguanno said. 

Nixson Benítez is a breaking news intern at the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at nbenitez@registermedia.com