An ISU student died Saturday after being hit by a car June 2 in Excelsior, Minn.

Daniel Stephen Peterson, 21, junior in production operations management and transportation logistics, was walking home from a bar with two friends about 1 a.m. when a car struck him from behind, said his mother, Pat Peterson.

He suffered a fractured skull and injured vertebrae, said Joe Kliegl, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brother.

“We were walking nearly shoulder to shoulder, but Danny was a few steps ahead of Ben Bergherr and me,” Kliegl said. “The car came up from behind and hit him and kept going – they never even hit their brakes.”

Kliegl, who knew Peterson for three years, said the three were only about a mile away from Peterson’s home at the time of the accident.

“They were walking because they didn’t want to drive,” Peterson said. “The bar wasn’t very far away. It happened so fast, the other two didn’t even know the car was coming until they saw the tail lights.”

The family received a call around 2 a.m. that Peterson had been airlifted to the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

“He was never actually in a coma,” Kliegl said. “He was unconscious after the car hit him. He only had head injuries, nothing from the neck down.”

More than 200 people including fraternity brothers, college and high school friends and relatives went to the hospital to say goodbye.

Police told the Peterson’s they have good leads and are checking out every car in the state that are the same make and model as the one that hit Daniel.

“He was a light in this world,” Peterson said. “He touched many lives.”

Daniel was born in Des Moines and moved to Minnesota when he was five. He graduated from Minnetonka High School in 1999 and chose Iowa State because of his interest in hotel management.

While at Iowa State, Daniel was part of Alpha Tau Omega and served as the recycling chair, parents’ weekend chair, house manager, membership educator and Veishea chair.

“He loved all sports. He was one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met,” Kliegl said. “He had a great sense of humor and was very creative.”

Services will be held Wednesday at St. Therese Catholic Church in Deephaven, Minn.