James Ochola, 18, died Tuesday while swimming in a Wolfville park. (CBC)

It's hard for James Ochola's sister and his friends to believe that he is gone because he was so full of life.

"Tall, lanky, so social," Rosa Ochola said Wednesday, describing her younger brother.

"We've been kind of over flooded, in my opinion. I'm thinking, 'Why do you make so many friends? What's the matter with you? Now I have to entertain them all.'"

James Ochola, 18, a student at Acadia University in Wolfville, drowned Tuesday afternoon while swimming at Reservoir Park, a popular unsupervised swimming hole in the town.

Rosa Ochola said her brother, James, was a popular student at Acadia University. (CBC)

James — nicknamed Odi — was a strong swimmer, but somehow couldn't make it to shore.

Wolfville police are investigating the circumstances of his death. The first year computer science student was with friends when he struggled in the water. Foul play is not suspected.

"Everybody loves him. This is painful for a lot more people than just me," Rosa Ochola, 25, said.

She and her sister, Janet, 20, who emigrated from Kenya, know tragedy. Their parents died a few years ago, and Rosa Ochola said that, in one way, makes her brother's death easier to accept.

"He's with our mom and our dad. Nothing could be done — it was time. I'm sorry to become so spiritual, but that's what happens when people are really good. They learn and then they teach us, and it's time for them to be called back," she said.

"Nobody should feel bad about it, and just be happy that he's not there on the other side on his own."

Rosa and James's friends said there is an important, and a happy date, coming in five weeks time.

"We have made a pact — we are still going on and celebrating his 19th birthday party because I know he's up there," Rosa Ochola said.