Oliver Pacchiana, 20; Engineering Student and Lifelong Greenwich Resident

Oliver Pacchiana, a lifelong Greenwich resident, died in an accident while rock climbing in Namibia on Easter Sunday, March 31. He was 20.

He was a University of Pennsylvania engineering student on his semester abroad at the University of Cape Town.

Oliver was born on Aug. 3, 1992, in Greenwich, a son of Douglas and Elaine Pacchiana.

While attending Glenville Elementary School he was Connecticut state chess champion in 4th grade, and New England chess champion in 5th grade. Oliver enjoyed many years of Little League baseball. At Western Middle School he represented his school at the Connecticut state finals in mathematics, and won fourth place in the state geography bee. At Greenwich High School Oliver was a member of the We The People constitutional debate team that advanced to the finals in Washington, D.C. in 2009. He also played tuba in the school band, competed on the volleyball team, was an altar server at St. Paul Church, and an Eagle Scout in Troop 35 in the Boy Scouts of America. Oliver graduated from GHS in 2010.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Oliver was captain of the Penn Electric Racing team and played sousaphone in the marching band. He was a candidate for a Master of Science in Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2015. His brother Nolan told the university's The Daily Pennsylvanian, "(Oliver) was an outdoorsman and a scholar” who did volunteer work with the Boys Scouts and St. Paul Church.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by his brother Nolan, his grandmothers Jeanne Pacchiana and Irene Hugick, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, April 6, at 2:30 p.m. at St. Paul Church, 84 Sherwood Ave. in Greenwich. Following the service a reception will be held at the Seton Scout Reservation, 363 Riversville Rd., Greenwich.