College student from Park Ridge already a seasoned leader before her death
Joshua JongsmaA few years ago, Dominique Franco of Park Ridge served as captain of her high school soccer team. She later became president of her sorority at the University of Rhode Island.
Franco, 21, died Saturday, but not before touching many lives.
"Dom was a thoughtful and selfless leader loved by both her chapter and the Greek Life community at large," according to a statement by URI's Greek Life Office. "She would put the chapter's and members' success above anything else. She was an important part of the Greek Life leadership team and will be missed dearly."
Not much is known about how Franco died. Her mother told the Providence Journal that a thyroid issue may have contributed, and she is waiting for an autopsy report.
Franco was a junior nursing student at the University of Rhode Island.
The Franco family has encountered loss before. Dominique's grandfathers died of cancer around when she was 1 year old, as did her great-grandmother when she was 4, and her uncle when she was 12. Her cousin Nicole was stabbed to death in Florida in 2014, and another grandparent died of cancer the same year, per previous reports in The Record.
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The losses helped inspire Franco to give back during her life. While in North Jersey she organized a toy drive with Hackensack University Medical Center and raised about $1,000 to give children diagnosed with cancer new toys. She was 17 at the time.
"I just feel like, personally, after cancer has affected me and my life so much, that there's this obligation for me to go and give back to others as much as I can," Franco said during a 2015 interview with The Record.
When she was a senior captain for the Park Ridge Owls soccer team, they went 17-1-2.
Her philanthropy continued at the University of Rhode Island. She was in her second term as president of the university's Zeta Tau Alpha chapter and last year organized the RhodyThon dance marathon, a benefit for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
"Dom was an incredible president and exemplified what it meant to be a ZTA. The world lost a truly incredible person," Nicole Breault, a URI senior in the chapter, said in a Twitter message shared by the university.
The University of Rhode Island offered counseling services to students and faculty.
Visitation will be held at Our Lady Mother of the Church, 209 Woodcliff Ave. in Woodcliff Lake, on Thursday from 2 to 8 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the church.
Email: jongsma@northjersey.com