A memorial mass for local friends and family to honor the life of alumnus Brian Adkins – a Foreign Service officer whose death last month in Ethiopia is being investigated as a homicide – was held on Saturday at St. Stephen Martyr Church on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Adkins was found dead in his home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, almost a month ago, just two days shy of his 26th birthday.

The State Department has not released any information concerning Adkins’ death since confirming two weeks ago that Ethiopian authorities had arrested a suspect.

Adkins’ family and friends, including current GW students, were joined by representatives from GW, the State Department and Washington Diplomatic Corps.

Adkins, who held undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Elliott School of International Affairs, was in Ethiopia as part of a two-year tour doing consular work for the State Department.

Senior Michael Geremia delivered the eulogy during the mass.

“Brian died while living his dream,” Geremia said. “His values are the values that I will raise my children to one day emulate.”

The mass was presided over by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., and attended by members of the local Knights of Columbus, a group Adkins was active in.

The Funeral Mass and Rite of Christian Burial in Adkins’ honor were held on Saturday, Feb. 14, in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.