The Napa Valley College community came together for a candlelight walk Thursday evening in honor of NVC President Chris McCarthy, whose death early this week took students and faculty by surprise and generated an outpouring of emotion.

College officials led the cross-campus walk following a regularly scheduled meeting of the college’s board of trustees. The event followed an impromptu gathering on Wednesday afternoon, when about 200 students and colleagues “shared memories, gratitude (and) stories reflecting his accomplishments, (McCarthy’s) vision (and) his sense of humor,” according to Betty Malmgren, spokeswoman for the school.

“It really showed the family that is Napa Valley College and the deep respect and affection that we all share for Chris,” she said. Also in McCarthy’s honor, campus officials will host “an informal gathering for the campus community, faculty, staff and students” on Sept. 29 at 12:30 p.m. at the campus quad. A large memorial celebration will be at the campus gym on Oct. 23.

According to Malmgren, McCarthy, 56, was last seen alive on Saturday morning and he is believed to have died of natural causes.

An autopsy performed Thursday revealed nothing to determine the cause of McCarthy’s death, law enforcement officials say.

Napa Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tracey Stuart said coroner’s officials are awaiting the results of toxicology tests and tissue samples for clues about how McCarthy died. Processing the tests takes several weeks.

McCarthy was ill last week with a cough, according to Sonia Wright, executive director of the Napa Valley College Foundation.

Ken Arnold, Napa Valley College’s campus chief of police, said he was called on Tuesday morning to the president’s office after McCarthy’s colleagues discovered he didn’t arrive at a conference early this week in Washington, D.C.

College staff members couldn’t reach McCarthy by phone, prompting his landlady to check on him. After discovering McCarthy to be unresponsive, the woman called 911, Arnold said, adding that he and members of the Napa fire and police departments arrived at McCarthy’s southeast Napa home shortly thereafter.

“There was nothing suspicious about the scene at all,” Arnold said.

McCarthy’s survivors include his wife, Carol; parents John and Andrea McCarthy and a brother, Eric.