The baby of the family, Edwin Albert Keach was always dragged along to his older siblings’ activities as a child. In first grade, his mother said he spent so much time with his brother and sister’s ski team, they dubbed him the mascot.

Keach, a Northeastern University junior economics major who spent his time acting as a “big brother” to a Dorchester boy, died Dec. 21 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was 21.

The co-captain of the golf team at Oliver Ames High School in North Easton, Keach found his passion for athletics at an early age. In elementary school, he joined a tee-ball team, and there he found his love for sports and some of his best friends.

“Just as a little kid, he had this big, big voice,” said his mother, Arlene, of North Easton.

Keach also played baseball and basketball in high school, as well as some recreational sports with his friends. At his school, he was known as the wiffle ball champion.

Born and raised in Easton, Mass., he grew up as an avid Red Sox fan. For his 21st birthday, his family got tickets to a game against the Yankees.

He enjoyed spending time with his family in other ways as well. His sister, Meredith, 30, of Mansfield, Mass., said he tried to make it home for Sunday dinners as much as possible, even while attending Northeastern.

“He was a very family-oriented and friend-oriented guy,” Meredith said. “He was an extrovert, he was a leader, he was always present at family events.”

Meredith said “Bud,” as she called him, also liked animals, especially his part Labrador, part German Shepherd named Jessie. Nine years his senior, his sister bought the dog for him right before she moved out of the house and brought it to one of his soccer games with a big red bow.

His mother said he frequently spent time with his grandfather as well, who was staying in a nearby nursing home before he died. When with his other grandfather, his father and his brother, he enjoyed playing a game of hearts or pitch, something of a family pastime.

After graduating from Oliver Ames High School in 2001, Keach spent a year at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, but then transferred to Northeastern where most of his relatives had gone before him.

“He wanted a bigger city school,” his mother said. “His brother went there, his father, his uncle, two uncles are Northeastern [graduates], and I went to Northeastern nights for a while.”

While at Northeastern and without his parents’ knowledge, Keach joined the Big Brothers Association of Massachusetts Bay. He also enjoyed woodworking and was a communicant of the Immaculate Conception Church in Easton.

“I think he found his niche at Northeastern University,” said his high school class advisor, Michael Darling.

Keach was born May 20, 1982.

In addition to his mother and sister, he is survived by his father, John A. Jr., of Easton; his brother, Andrew, of Mansfield; and his grandfather, John A. Sr., of Easton.

A funeral Mass was said on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Easton. He was buried in the South Easton Cemetery.