EVERGREEN, Colo. (KDVR) — We now know more about a man who died after falling while climbing a mountain in southwest Colorado over the weekend.
In a very short period of time, Jeremy Fuerst became a beloved clergy member at church in Evergreen.
The death of the young pastor hit this community hard.
Fuerst came to Colorado as a young clergyman and quickly became a friend to many.
He fell to his death climbing a mountain near the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Fuerst loved the outdoors.
He was most recently a pastor at the Central Lutheran Church north of Seattle. He’d come to hike Crestone Peak in Colorado when he fell to his death over the weekend.
Investigators say his body found was 300 feet below the summit.
Vera Guebert-Steward got to know Fuerst when he came for a pastoral internship at Evergreen Lutheran Church in 2010. She was his mentor and quickly grew to love him.
“Pastor Jeremy was someone that had great humor. He was incredibly smart, very intelligent young man. A good preacher. He was hard to corral sometimes because of his humor,” Guebert-Steward said.
Fuerst made many friends at Evergreen Lutheran in a short period of time. Jon Johnson was one of them.
“I remember when he did his first practice sermon. He referenced ‘The Big Lebowski,’ and I think from that point on I knew this guy was trying to just reach people where they were,” Johnson said.
Fuerst was full of life at 44.
“We all work hard to help people realize that there’s hope beyond death. We will see Jeremy one day again,” Guebert-Steward said.
He was missed the day he left Evergreen. Even more so now.
A spokesman for the Lutheran Church said there will be two services: one in Nebraska and another in the Seattle area.