Jason Alexander Kroll, beloved son of Steven and Joy Kroll of Crystal Bay, Nevada, and Koh Tao, Thailand, respectively, died suddenly in his Aurora, Colorado, home on December 17, 2013. The cause was undiscovered heart disease.

Born May 3, 1968 in Berkeley, California, Jason lived in Hawaii and South Africa before moving with his father to Lake Tahoe’s North Shore in 1982, where he graduated from Incline High School in 1986. Jason then served his country for 12 years in the U.S. Air Force as an award-winning Air Traffic Controller, continuing in that capacity as a civilian employee after his honorable separation from the Air Force in 2000.

For the last 13 years Jason worked at Buckley Air Force Base outside of Denver, where the small and close-knit family of his employer and co-workers was in shock and mourning at news of his untimely death. “The ATC profession was Jason’s life,” wrote Lt. Col. Brian Turner in reporting the tragedy to the Base Wing Commander. “We have lost an individual dedicated to the flying mission.”

Jason loved all animals, and he loved debating politics and social issues whenever he got the chance. He was also a World of Warcraft computer fanatic with many unknown cyber friends who will surely have felt a disturbance in the Force at his actual passing.

Jason never married, and in addition to his grieving parents, he is survived by brother Lincoln and sister-in-law Woonsen, and his nephew Max and niece Music Kroll in Thailand; Uncle Michael and Aunt Jan in California; and various cousins and extended family.