Skyler Holmes never served in the military, but he devoted much of his life to honoring and memorializing those who had.

The longtime director of Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs — husband, father of three, and avid outdoorsman — died suddenly July 19, at age 43.

Holmes is thought to have suffered a fatal heart attack roughly a week after he and his family returned from a high-elevation hiking and climbing trip in Peru, according to his wife, Christina Holmes.

“He was totally healthy and very active, hiking mountains every weekend, so yeah. … This is not something you’d ever think would happen,” she said.

What’s known for certain is that in his relatively brief life Skyler Holmes carved a legacy of compassion and impact in his personal and professional spheres, shepherding others through life’s hardest transitions and biggest hurdles.

A native of Washington state, Holmes’ storyline began its arc toward Colorado Springs when he was living in Hawaii, working as a mechanic at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Christina said. While there, he was among a group of candidates selected to participate in a VA internship program at the National Cemetery Administration in St. Louis.

Holmes’ reputation in NCA circles was already palpable when Andrew Santa-Pinter was accepted into the program, long before the two men became colleagues at the VA cemetery in Colorado Springs, said Santa-Pinter, who is now serving as the cemetery’s interim director.

As part of the NCA program, students are assigned to a “host cemetery” in something of an apprenticeship model, Santa-Pinter said, an environment where “you come in between classes to put into practice what they teach you in the schoolhouse.”

Santa-Pinter was assigned to Pikes Peak National Cemetery, where he spent several weeks of practical learning during breaks from classes in St. Louis.

“Having Skyler as my mentor, as the director of the cemetery I was assigned to, was an experience that a lot of my classmates … were jealous of,” Santa-Pinter said.

Holmes’ manner in dealing with grieving families, and his attentiveness to every part of the job, left an impression and set a high bar, Santa-Pinter said.

“His way of dealing with the families and helping the families was unwavering. He was always committed to helping somebody,” he said. “The moment somebody walked into the office, the moment somebody rang the door, he was the first one to get out there and talk to the family.”

Christina Holmes said that caring for veterans became an integral part of her husband’s nature and passion.

“For him being non-veteran, he definitely kind of fell in love with that aspect, and being able to help veterans became a core part of who he was,” she said.

Off the clock, nature — and introducing others to the beauty and the thrill of outdoor sports — was another true north.

Holmes introduced his now-16-year-old daughter, Shelby, to ice climbing, a sport they enjoyed together and at which she continues to excel.

“He also got us all into volunteering with Paradox sports, which became a special thing our family had together,” said Christina, about the nonprofit that offers accessible climbing and outdoor adventure opportunities for people with disabilities. “That was one of the things he was passionate about too, giving people access to the outdoors.”

Paradox Sports shared a memorial message on its Instagram page after Holmes’ death, calling him “an outstanding volunteer and wonderful addition to every program he joined.”

Holmes’ colleague, Pikes Peak National Cemetery administrative officer Dustin Venn, recalled how work weeks often began with a gleeful recounting of Holmes’ exploits from the weekend prior: nights spent stranded, isolated and hunkered down atop 6-foot snowdrifts, scaling sheer ice walls in the middle of nowhere.

“He loved it, being outdoors, being in Colorado, but we always worried on Monday morning if he would be there just because he was that thrill seeker and always doing something adventurous,” Venn said. “The way he passed is not the way anybody thought he would go.”

Skyler Holmes is survived by his wife, Christina, and his children, Godwin Ginn, Bailey Holmes and Shelby Holmes.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help support the family, at gofundme.com/f/support-skyler-holmes-family-in-their-time-of-need.