Dominic Mallary.

WORCESTER/BERLIN - Dominic "Dom" Mallary, 24, of Worcester and formerly of Berlin, passed away Friday, Dec. 5, at Boston Medical Center, surrounded by family and the friends who loved him so much. He died unexpectedly, after inadvertently being injured during a performance of his band, Last Lights, at Boston University.

He was born Sept. 22, 1984. He grew up in Berlin and later in Worcester. He graduated Tahanto Regional High School in 2003 and, just last month, enjoyed seeing old friends at an informal five year reunion. He attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and graduated from Emerson College with honors with a degree in writing, literature and publishing in 2007. Prior to graduation, he completed a summer internship for the Telegram and Gazette. For five years, while in school, he worked at the Berlin Center Store, a job he loved because it kept him connected to Berlin. He was working, currently, as a residential counselor at The Green House, a program for homeless mentally ill and substance abusing men in Worcester.

He was a poet, musician, and artist. He was the lead singer, lyricist and composer, for the band, Last Lights. He had been offered a record contract this week and, at the end of the month, had planned a tour of the Eastern United States with his band. He was very happy and hopeful on the evening that he fell ill. He had dreamed of being a musician since he was a young teenager. He worked hard and consistently toward this goal, spending hours, practicing, writing songs, and attending to the administrative work of booking shows and tours. He was a serious person with a passion for the things in which he believed. At the same time he was an example for all who knew him, demonstrating a joyful openness to new ideas, experiences, and people throughout his life. He cared about music not fame.

Besides music, he was passionate about philosophy and writing. He leaves a bedroom in his mother's house crammed with books like a graduate school library.

He was planning on concentrating on his band for the next several years. His long term goals included going back to school, either graduate or medical school. He was a brilliant student.

He is survived by his parents, Helen and Pasquale Turano and Michael and Cindy Mallary; his sisters, Elaine, Caroline and Joanna; his step-brother, Pasquale Turano; and his girlfriend of three years, Angela Fallavollita, whom he very much loved.

Mercadante Funeral Home and Chapel, 370 Plantation St., Worcester, is directing arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Dominic Mallary to Community Healthlink - The Green House, 19 King St., Worcester, MA 01610.