Alfonso Ye Jr., 25, stood out among classmates in the pharmacy tech program at Pima Medical Institute in Chula Vista.
Rather than waiting to complete the eight-month training program, he sat for his pharmacy license and passed the exam. And he began working at a local pharmacy while still completing his studies.
“He took initiative. That is quite impressive for a student to be able to pass that exam,” said his instructor, Benjamin Montoya.
Ye also took pride in his cooking skills, impressing the pharmacy department at potlucks with dishes he mastered as a professional cook for the San Diego Yacht Club. Ye studied psychology at San Diego Miramar College, and graduated from Mira Mesa High School, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A manager at the pharmacy where Ye worked, who asked not to be identified, described him as likable and outgoing.
Montoya last saw the bright student in early March. Ye returned to his mother’s home in Riverside County with what the family believed was a cold with a high fever. He died March 25 at home in La Quinta.
He is preceded in death by his father, Alfonso Ye Sr., who died in 2018, and is survived by his mother.
As posted in the LA Times – Lives Lost in California