He was always a proud Husky. Whether it was a glass, a coffee mug or a hat, it had to have a Northeastern emblem on it; he just loved his school that much.

Walter Eugene Dedrick was so proud to be a Northeastern student that he even argued with an Ivy Leaguer over which school is top dog.

“He loved Northeastern. He was so proud, he got into a big debate with a girl dating his cousin,” said Warren Dedrick, Walter’s father, who also said his son won the debate with the MIT student because of his immense school pride.

Walter Dedrick, a senior business administration major, died Wednesday, March 17, in his Hemenway Street apartment. The exact cause of his death is still under investigation.

Mr. Dedrick was born July 20, 1981 in Fairfax, Va. He graduated from Glens Falls High School in Glens Falls, N.Y. in 1999.

While growing up in Fairfax, Mr. Dedrick spent a lot of time with his sister, Yvonne, just one year his senior.

The two would go exploring, and, as they grew older, became even more daring.

“We would get into so much trouble, but it was so much fun,” said Yvonne, of Arlington, Va.

Despite his closeness with his family, when Mr. Dedrick started researching Boston colleges on the Internet, he knew he had to go. He kept in contact with his parents and his sister on a daily basis.

Friends said Mr. Dedrick aspired to be like his father, a successful businessman.

“He looked forward, in fact, to going to be with his dad and his family,” said Mr. Dedrick’s roommate, Scott Rank, a senior civil engineering major.

And he was well on his way to fulfilling that dream.

Even though he was still an undergraduate at Northeastern, Mr. Dedrick sent an application to one of his father’s companies applying for the position of Chief Executive Officer. As part of his qualifications, Mr. Dedrick listed that his father owned 97 percent of the company.

Mr. Dedrick loved to make people laugh. Whether it was his family, friends or complete strangers, he was the type of person who could walk into a crowd and instantly connect with everyone within an hour and have everyone laughing within two, his father said.

When he was 13, Mr. Dedrick chose to move to Florida to be with his father. He loved it so much, he planned to return after graduation and had a job already lined up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“[Walter] didn’t like that four letter word – work,” Warren said. “But the one thing he was most excited about was getting his degree and moving to Fort Lauderdale.”

Mr. Dedrick made frequent trips to Key West, where his father lived, and often brought his friends.

“We went down to Florida for winter break and played volleyball all day,” said Marco Carega, a senior graphic design major and friend of Mr. Dedrick.

Some of Mr. Dedrick’s hobbies included playing volleyball and guitar. While in Key West, he took lessons for three years, but after that, he was pretty much self taught, his father said.

In addition to his father and his sister, Mr. Dedrick leaves his mother, Ruby Dasher, of Fairfax, Va.; his stepmother, Heather Dedrick, of Queens-bury, N.Y.; and his mother’s grandparents, Robert and Diane Jenkins, of Northville, N.Y.

A memorial service was held for Mr. Dedrick last Sunday at the Douglass Funeral Home in Lexington.