Honoring Lee Gonzales 9.6.94 - 6.11.21
In the words of Lee's brother Christian:
It’s with the heaviest of hearts that I inform you all of the passing of my older brother Sergio Lee Gonzales at age 26. On Friday June 11th, Lee was unfortunately involved in a skydiving accident in Colorado where he lost his life. The pain this has brought on my family is immense and is hard to put into words. Lee was a giant, Lee was larger than life and you didn’t forget him after you met him. He will be so incredibly missed by so many.
Lee was a jack of all trades, a renaissance man who could accomplish anything he put his mind to. He was someone who found life's joys anywhere he went. He followed in our grandfather's footsteps by joining the Marine Corps after high school and served four and a half years but his time in the service didn’t define him, it was merely a chapter in his short yet extraordinary life. He was philosophical, he was intelligent, he was political and opinionated, he was generous, he was a hard ass who knew when it was time to be loving and kind. And after moving to Denver, he became an avid outdoorsman and spent every day hiking, skiing, biking, running, base jumping and skydiving. Skydiving had become his one true love.
The world was at his fingertips and he still had so much more to accomplish. He finished up his degree in psychology at the University of Colorado Denver just last week and was already applying to grad schools where he wanted to research how psychedelics could help veterans who suffered from PTSD. He wanted to help others. Because that's who he was. And that's how we’ll always remember him.
My family finds solace knowing he died doing what he loved and that he did and experienced more in 26 years than most do in a lifetime. But we know the void his death has made in our lives will never be filled and we will miss him dearly.
My family asks that those of you who knew him, or maybe only met him once, write down some funny, sad, happy, memorable stories about him to send to us. They can be handwritten, they can be typed, they can be mailed, emailed, direct messaged or just left in the comments below. If you wish to mail or email, please message me privately for that information. We hope to put these stories together in a book for future family members to get to know Lee the way we did.
Any funds graciously donated to this fundraiser will go directly to Lee's family to aid in all of the costs incurred from memorial services, travel, lodging, as well as provide the opportunity to keep his beloved Tacoma, 'Blanca' in the family.
Please feel free to share any stories or moments that speak to who Lee Gonzlaes was in the comments for both his family and friends.
On behalf of Lee’s mother Colette, fatherSergio, and brother Christian: Thank you all so much for your generous contributions ❤️ Your generosity has been instrumental in helping his family navigate these extremely difficult times as well as ensuring that Lee’s beloved Tacoma can stay with his family.
