Friends of Terel Tinsley remember the 20-year-old freshman as a funny, honest guy who loved doing things for his friends.”He kept everyone’s spirits up,” said Kaliya Lathon, a sophomore majoring in criminology, who called Tinsley her best friend. ” You never saw him look down. He was always there when I or someone else needed him.”Tinsley, a freshman from Decatur, Ga., died on Sunday night at the Ohio State Medical Center from bacterial meningitis. He was rushed to the hospital from his room in Siebert Hall Sunday afternoon. Lathon describes him as a forgiving, loyal, honest, sensitive and funny friend who loved to play video games and listen to music.Tinsley was a considerate and unselfish person, she recalled tearfully. He would walk with her to United Dairy Farmers at 2 a.m. five or six times in a week to get whatever she needed, she said.Tinsley worked hard at McDonald’s and Lennox Town Center movie theater to finance his college education, Lathon said.The two of them worked together at the movie theater. When Tinsley did not have to work, sometimes he would come anyway, she said.”He would come so I would not have to ride the bus by myself, even if he did not have to work,” Lathon said.Bacterial meningitis is a disease that can be transmitted through saliva contact, including kissing, sharing drinking glasses or eating utensils, sneezing or coughing, or by sharing cigarettes. The mortality rate is about 10 to 15 percent.Kai Worsham, a junior majoring in marketing and transportation and logistics, said she became friends with Tinsley after he flirted with her in a biology class they took together. Worsham described Tinsley as a friendly and outgoing person.”He was happy by making others happy,” Worsham said. “I can’t remember a time when I had a bad memory of him.”When Worsham was frustrated over a personal problem, Tinsley called her 10 times in one day and visited her to make she was okay and to cheer her up.”He made it a point to spend a day with me to cheer me up,” Worsham said. “He did not mind sacrificing his time for his friends. He would help you to forget about what you were worried about.” Worsham said Tinsley’s death came as a shock.”You would guess it was something that was not so serious,” Worsham said. “His symptoms were no different than the common cold.”Eric Currence, a junior majoring in finance, described Tinsley as a “showstopper.””When he came over, you knew you would always laugh,” Currence said. “He never tried to be funny, and that made him more fun.”Currence, too, thought Tinsley died too soon.”He was here to accomplish something,” he said. “It is sad he died so young. He has only been here for a year, and he has touched so many people.”A memorial service for Tinsley is open to the public on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Hale Black Cultural Center.