Two members of the St. Edward’s University community have died. Professor and photocommunications alumnus Adam Boley died in a traffic accident on Sept. 3. The following day on Sept. 4, business administration graduate student Jerry Cannon died of a terminal illness.

Adam Michael Boley

Boley, 30, graduated from St. Edward’s University in 2009 and further went to receive his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas in May 2016. Boley stayed at UT teaching photography and returned to St. Edward’s this semester as a professor of photography. Boley taught at St. Edward’s for one week, before his death.

During his undergraduate years at St. Edward’s, Boley was deeply immersed in his photography, a passion that his professors still remember.

“From the start, he found his true subject in his family’s ranch  the house, the land, the stories, the people,” Boley’s former professor Sybil Miller said.

“He stayed committed to this place. For a young artist, he already had an impressive collection of grants and exhibitions, and contributed to his peers and other artists as well, though his own creative practice and his generous spirit.”

A memorial was held for Boley at Gabriels Funeral Chapel in Georgetown, Texas on Sept. 10. 

Jerry Cannon

Jerry Cannon, an MBA student at St. Edward’s University, passed away on Sept. 4 at the age of 69 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

His presence will be missed by his classmates, fellow veterans and the SEU community as a whole.

After graduating from Carver Junior/Senior High School in 1965, Cannon attended Huston-Tillotson College for a year and a half. He then went on to serve in the United States Marine Corp. Cannon joined the Air Force where he became a member of the honor guard, serving from 1973 to 1992.

In May 2000, Jerry received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business from the University of Maryland then moved back to Austin in 2005.

In the summer of 2014, Jerry began attending St. Edward’s University with the goal of receiving an MBA and getting back into the workforce. As he was short of completing his MBA when he passed away, St. Edward’s will award the Posthumous MBA degree to Cannon’s family at a time of their choosing.

Cannon’s classmate Nick Boulanger remembers Cannon for his sense of humor during their negotiations class.

“After group collaborations, [Jerry] would say, ‘We all collaborated, we all got things done, and you know how that makes me feel?’ and he would shout ‘enthusiastic,’” said Boulanger.

Another fellow graduate student Michael Canales described Jerry as “positive” saying, “[Jerry] took life like he took his classes—with a smile.”

Cannon was remembered during mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on Sept. 9. The funeral will take place at St. James Baptist Church on Sept.12 and the burial will be the next day at the Military Cemetery in San Antonio.