Sergio Lee Gonzales

Gonzales,

Sergio Lee

Age 26

Passed away on June 11, 2021 in a skydiving accident in Colorado. Lee had just graduated from the University of Colorado-Denver and was being certified as a skydiving instructor. Lee will be greatly missed by friends and family in Colorado and Minnesota. A Gathering of Family and Friends will be held on Sunday, July 11 from 2-4PM at the Commemorative Air Force Museum, Fleming Field, 310 Airport Rd Hangar 3, South St. Paul.

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.