Jordan Yee, a barista at the Kew Gardens Starbucks, passed away Friday, Nov. 25. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — The Kew Gardens community is grieving after a beloved Starbucks barista died unexpectedly last week.

Jordan Yee, 21, was charming with a warm personality, patrons said. He worked for two years at the Kew Gardens Starbucks, but was helping his colleagues at the busy Queens Center Mall location where he died on Black Friday.

Yee, who had acute asthma and numerous allergies, suddenly began having difficulty breathing and was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved, his friends and colleagues said.

“He certainly is going to be missed,” said Matthew Bush, 32, the manager for the Kew Gardens location at 118-24 Queens Blvd. “It’s tough.”

Friends and co-workers remembered Yee as a “fun-spirited” person with “an infectious personality.”

Always considerate and tactful, he would casually chat with patrons about his love of comic books, their work or children, co-workers said.

“Jordan would start a conversation with someone if he saw that someone looked a little uneasy,” Bush said. "He was a breath of fresh air and the customers absolutely adored him."

🙏🏻😔 A photo posted by Starbucks_Kewgardens (@starbucks_kewgardens) on Nov 28, 2016 at 7:58am PST

Patrons, stunned by his sudden death, took to social media to express their grief.

“He was the main reason as to why I enjoyed coming here so much, he was always so kind to me and the only one who really took the time to remember my name, ask me how my day was or how I've been, I considered him my friend even though i didn't know much about him because he acted like one," one customer posted in a comment on the coffee shop’s Instagram. "Favorite barista hands down. This makes my heart hurt."

“Jordan, it was an honor and privilege to know you,” another patron wrote. “Thank you for being part of our lives and for allowing us to be part of yours. Always remembered, never forgotten. 'Good to see you, man!' Thanks for everything.”

A fan of the DJ Porter Robinson, Yee, who had no siblings, also loved museums and hiking. He would enjoy going to restaurants to try different variations of ramen, his favorite dish, said Alejandro Gumiel, 21, his best friend who also works at the Kew Gardens Starbucks.

But more than anything else, Yee loved helping others, said Gumiel, who grew up three blocks away from Yee in Kew Gardens Hills and attended the Holy Family school in Fresh Meadows with him.

Gumiel said last year Yee convinced him to apply for a job at Starbucks and put in a good word for him. When he failed his interview, Yee conducted a 2-hour mock job interview with him to prepare Gumiel for reapplying.

“He said: dude, you need to sell yourself, you gotta make yourself seem as the greatest thing ever.”

When Gumiel went for his second interview, he was ready. “I killed it,” he said.

Alejandro Gumiel and Jordan Yee during their recent trip to Colorado. (Courtesy of Alejandro Gumiel)

Yee, also wrote poetry and short stories. “He loved to write,” Gumiel said.

Yee had attended York College, but stopped “for financial reasons.” He was planning to go back to college to pursue journalism, Gumiel said.

Grieving co-workers placed Yee's photo on the counter at the Kew Gardens coffee shop and set up a GoFundMe campaign “to help cover the costs of his funeral and ease any financial burden during this holiday season for his family."

As of Friday morning, the campaign raised more than $19,000 of its $20,000 goal.

“He touched so many lives,” Bush said. “He served more than just coffee, he served smiles.”

Jordan Yee’s funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 10:15 a.m. at Holy Family Church at 175-20 74th Ave. in Fresh Meadows.