Durango native Kyle Russell Swain died unexpectedly Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, at his parents’ home in Southwest Colorado. He was 27. The cause of death is under investigation.

Mr. Swain was born to Keith and Barb Swain on June 3, 1984, at the old Mercy Hospital in Durango. He grew up in Durango and attended Needham Elementary, St. Columba Catholic, Miller Middle and Durango High schools.

He graduated with the DHS Class of 2003. While at DHS, Mr. Swain finished on the podium all four years in state wrestling, was named all-conference in football for the school year 2002-2003 and was named an all-state wrestler in 2003.

He attended Western State College in Gunnison from 2003 to 2005 before transferring to Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communications in 2008 from CSU. He jokingly called his degree, “the major with the most movie classes.”

Mr. Swain loved being outdoors, snowboarding, dirt biking and traveling.

“Kyle loved life,” his family said. “Kyle had always surrounded himself with those he loved and loved him. He had some of the best friends anyone could ever ask for. He always had a smile on his face. He lived every day as if it were his last from the time he could walk.”

Mr. Swain is survived by his wife, Nicole Beaulieu, of Denver; parents, Keith and Barb Swain; grandmother Joan Kekipi Hartmann of St. David, Ariz.; grandfather Jack Murphy of De Queen, Ark.; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and other extended family members.

A memorial service was held Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, in the Exhibit Hall at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.

In lieu of flowers, a trust fund has been established in the name of Nicole Beaulieu at Wells Fargo Bank.