President Obama mourns the loss of former aide Brandon Lepow who died of cancer

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Brandon Lepow battled a rare type of leukemia since September 2013
After ten rounds of chemo, he went into remission in 2014 - but relapsed earlier this year and passed away Monday night
His wife, Theresa, provided updates for family and friends, who included several White House employees, on Facebook
The President called his and Theresa's relationship 'one of the great love stories' and said he and Michelle had 'heavy hearts'

Published: 16:17 EST, 14 October 2015 | Updated: 17:26 EST, 14 October 2015

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Former White House aide Brandon Lepow passed away from cancer on Monday night at the age of 32.

The Houston native, who campaigned for President Obama and then worked in the White House for four-and-a-half years, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2013. In 2014 he went into remission, but relapsed earlier this year after his body rejected a stem cell transplant.

Both his grief-stricken wife, Theresa Lapow, and the President have released statements mourning his loss.

He'll be missed: Brandon Lepow (center) died this week after a two-year battle with leukemia; his wife Theresa (right) and President Obama (left) released statement

In love: The 32-year-old was diagnosed in 2013 while planning his wedding and decided to move up the ceremony so he and Theresa could get married before his second round of chemo

Expert docs: He underwent ten rounds of chemo in all, traveling from Washington, D.C. to his hometown of Houston to be treated at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Brandon and Theresa were happily engaged and living in Washington, D.C. in September of 2013. They were making plans for their April 2014 wedding when Brandon, then a Facebook employee, began struggling with pain in his chest and back.

He was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a very rare cancer, and immediately flew home to Houston to get treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. After the first round of chemo, he and Theresa decided to bump up their wedding and get married right away.

'People at the hospital kept calling me his friend,' Theresa told Cosmopolitan.com in an interview about their journey last year. 'Sometimes it felt as if they weren't being as forthcoming with me as they would have been if I had been his wife. So we said, "Let's just do this."'

A few days before they were scheduled to tie the knot on October 24, 2013, Brandon's hair started to fall out, and he decided to shave the rest of it off before his big day. Despite the emotional moment, the day went off without a hitch.

Heartbreaking: Theresa (pictured with Brandon at the White House) said she lost her best friend

Going peacefully: After his body rejected a stem cell transplant, his health declined quickly and in September he stopped treatment

Afterward, he went through nine more rounds of chemo before he was finally in remission, and the two thought that the nightmare was behind them.

Then, in early 2015, Brandon relapsed. The couple had moved to San Francisco, but they now returned to Houston for more treatment. According to the Los Angeles Times, Brandon got a stem cell transplant in April, but by summer he found out that his body was rejecting it. In August, he contracted pneumonia.

After several very difficult months, Brandon decided to stop treatment in early September.

'To say that Brandon is a fighter doesn't even begin to explain the strength and courage he has,' Theresa wrote earlier this week, before his passing, on a Facebook page created to update his family and friends. 'I am so proud of him in the way he has chosen to leave this world. Under his own terms.'

She explained that though he wasn't in any more pain, he was sleeping all the time at the end. On Monday night, he passed away, and yesterday a devastated Theresa wrote: 'Today is the first day without my best friend. My heart is broken but I know now he is free.'

Sad story: Theresa said she was proud that Brandon chose to leave this world... under his own terms'

Well-loved: The President (pictured with Brandon, second from right) said that many of the former aide's old White House colleagues traveled to Houston to visit him

President Obama issued a statement as well, praising Brandon for the work he did on the campaign trail and in the White House.

'Last night, we lost Brandon after a long battle with leukemia,' the President wrote. 'It's a testament to his dedication to others that, over the past few months, more than fifty of his White House colleagues traveled to spend time with him and support his family as he underwent treatment in Texas.

'We all have heavy hearts today - and all of us, Michelle and I included, share our condolences and all our support with Brandon's family, his legion of friends, and his wonderful and courageous wife, Theresa. Theirs is one of the great love stories.

'They, in many ways, kept the rest of us going. And Theresa will always be a part of our family.'

He added: '[Brandon was] one of the most unfailingly kind and gracious people I've had the honor to know,' the President wrote. 'He was someone that any American could be proud to have working on their behalf.'