High-achieving Windsor teen had stellar future before fatal fall

A Windsor teen who fell to his death from a cliff in North Vancouver had a dream of becoming an astronaut and those who knew and loved him believe that he would have achieved it.

Marco Kurepa, 17, an alumnus of Vincent Massey Secondary School, was set to begin the engineering program at the University of British Columbia, where he was the beneficiary of a $100,000 scholarship.

"He was always very ambitious. And he never gave up on anything," said Daniel Kurepa, Marco's father.

"Everything basically was going in the right direction, and he had a great chance to really reach his goal."

On Aug. 25, Marco visited Lynn Canyon Park with some fellow students to celebrate the start of the academic year. They climbed a fence and entered an off-limits area.

Daniel Kurepasaid his son had a love for nature.

"He was very adventurous... He wanted to take a picture," Kurepa explained. "It was a spectacular view. And he's 17 years old, and there was excitement to be in nature."

Daniel Kurepa said RCMP told him there had been rainy weather and the terrain was mossy. Investigatorsbelievethat Marco tried to stabilize himself by holding onto a tree, but slipped and fell from the 50-metre ridge.

Marco's remains were returned to Windsor, and a private cremation was held at Families First funeral home.

Marco was the only child of Daniel and Zora Kurepa. The coupleemigrated to Windsor from Croatia in the 1990s. Marco was born here, and attended Bellewood Public School before Vincent Massey Secondary School.

In the obituary the Kurepas composed for their son, they thanked Marco's many teachers, classmates and friends.

Daniel said his son's gifts were apparent even as a small child.

"[In] 2012, we took him to Kennedy Space Center, and I saw that spark," Daniel recalled. "He knew everything about the planes, each and every one. Like an encyclopedia."

When Marco was in Grade 7, he underwent testing that determined his IQ to be 145 considered high enough to be a Mensa member.

By the time Marco graduated high school earlier this year, hisresume was deep, with achievementsin math contests, computer science events, and robotics.

This past summer, Marco interned at the University of Windsor, and assisted in biomedical research that resulted in co-authorship of published papers.

Marco also had experience with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, and was multi-lingual: He could speak English, Croatian, Serbianand French.

His $100,000 scholarship was earnedthrough the Ted Rogers Legacy program awarded annually to only 10 students across Canada.

"He had an amazing future," wrote Bala Venkataraman, a friend and project partner to Marco, in correspondence with CBC.

"He was extremely intelligent, having perfect grades and impressive extracurriculars that got him a full scholarship at UBC. He would have made a large positive impact on the world."

Venkataraman partnered with Kurepalast year to build a drone equipped with facial recognition software, meant to deliver medical supplies in emergency situations. The project won second place in Toronto'sannual Hack the 6ixevent.

"Marco was a very talented and passionate engineer," Venkataramanwrote. "We had plans for future projects to collaborate on as well."

"More importantly, he was a great person always fun to talk to and hang out with."

Despite Marco's many accomplishments, Daniel Kurepa said he hopes his son is most remembered for his kind and generous nature.

Volunteer work was a habit for Marco,from organizing and participating in fundraising relays for cancer research, to providing free coaching and technical expertise at computer programming events.

On social media, parents of children expressed gratitude for the warmth and patience Marco showed while instructing in CodeReach a five-month program at Vincent Massey that introduced young students to web development.

"He was a humanitarian," Daniel said. "It was deep in his heart. To be very kind, and always ready to help."

"When he was born, he was very talented. So we just wanted him to be selfless and help others... We believe that if you have some advantage, then you give back. Support others, inspire others."