Rinconada family cat killed by car

Finnegan, the Rinconada Residential Fellow (RF) family cat, was hit by a car Thursday morning on Campus Drive and did not survive the trauma. He was 7.

Perpetually seen wandering East Campus, Finn was a well-recognized member of the Stanford community.

“He loves to wander around, and [my wife and I] get reports all the time of him being in different dorms,” said owner Dan Klein. “Sometimes we would get a phone call from a dorm and then 10 minutes later he would be back at our house.”

According to Klein, Finn has been seen in dormitories throughout Escondido Road including Lantana, Branner, Kimball and Crothers. However, the adventurous cat has also been seen in Pi Phi, Munger, Roble and White Plaza, and has even been picked up by one of the Hennessys.

“We tried to keep him in the house sometimes, but he just wouldn’t have it,” Klein said. “If he wasn’t let out, he would just pee all over things in the house. If we let him out, he would go and then he’d come back. And sometimes he would go for an extended time if he found somebody who was feeding him. Not long ago he came back smelling like perfume. We wanted to put a GoPro camera on him or at least a GPS real-time tracking device.”

News of Finn’s death spread quickly on campus, with many students reaching out with condolences to the family.

“It’s been an incredible outpouring of support on Facebook and on the RF email list,” Klein said. “People have been at the door and saying how much he meant to them. It’s been amazing. It’s hard and sad, but we’re also remembering the adorable and funny things he did. We’re imagining that he’s off to his next adventure. Any creatures — people or animals — that we know that were out for an adventure, it was him.”

Klein and Michelle Darby plan to have a memorial service for Finn. The date has yet to be determined.

George Chen contributed to this report.

Contact Catherine Zaw at czaw13 ‘at’ stanford ‘dot’ edu.