The Pikes Peak National Cemetery is grieving the unexpected death of its cemetery director, Skyler Holmes, who passed away last month at the age of 43.
Holmes had served with the Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration since June 2020. During his tenure at Pikes Peak, he dedicated himself to honoring veterans with respect and dignity—whether through traditional funerals, coordinating thousands of grave flags placed by volunteers, or arranging services for veterans with no known family.
In March, Holmes spoke with 11 News about organizing unclaimed veteran services—funerals held for veterans whose remains are not claimed by family members.
“Once we receive remains that are unclaimed, we go through a typical check. If those come back negative, then we’re not able to find any next of kin, we have an entire media contact sheet that we put out. We email everybody knowing about the ceremony, try to get the word out the best possible. We also make Facebook posts and let a lot of our local partners know so they can come by as well,” he explained.
While the cemetery did not disclose the cause of death, it confirmed it was sudden.
“Although not a veteran, he honorably served our nation’s veterans in all his positions. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and leaders alike,” the cemetery said in a statement.
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Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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