Skyler Storm Ramsey could lighten the mood with a few strums on his guitar.

The 22-year-old Gastonia resident loved music and appeared timid until he opened his mouth with a witty one-liner.

Ramsey died early Sunday morning in a single-car wreck in Gastonia.

Police say the wreck happened just after 2 a.m. Sunday near South Myrtle Road and Crescent Avenue when Ramsey lost control of the silver 2008 Pontiac he was driving, ran off the road to the left and struck a tree. Police say Ramsey was going at least 70 mph in the 35 mph zone and rainy weather conditions contributed to the wreck. Ramsey was the only one in the car and no other vehicles were involved, according to a Gastonia Police Department release.

Ramsey's aunt Sheranda Bumgardner said her nephew had stopped at the Walmart on Myrtle School Road for a frozen pizza Sunday and wrecked on the way back to his sister's home nearby.

"He was just full of life. He loved to make people laugh," Bumgardner said. "His sense of humor was a little different than what you ran into. He had this dry wit and people thought he was really quiet until he would blurt out one of his one-liners."

Ramsey had a pet bearded lizard named Bruce and a personality that made other feel like they'd been lifelong friends.

He was planning to attend ITT Technical Institute in March and major in computers, said his mother, Tish Ramsey.

"He was a real sweet boy, always wore his heart on his sleeve," Tish Ramsey said.

Ramsey grew up in Gastonia and attended a couple of the private Christian schools in the area, including Victory Christian Academy. The bright student graduated from E.E. Waddell High School in Charlotte in 2007.

Skyler Ramsey couldn't carry a tune, but he had a talent for playing the guitar. He could hear a song and automatically be able to play it, said his brother-in-law, Danny Cason. His favorite band was Coheed and Cambria, a progressive rock band from New Jersey.

"He had pretty magical fingers, and I'm sure that anybody that ever spent more than five minutes around him could tell you that," Bumgardner said.

One of Bumgardner's favorite memories of her nephew happened when the two reunited after she'd been diagnosed with cancer. Ramsey took his guitar out of the car and softly played it while they talked. When she asked him what he was doing, he told her that this was a serious subject and he was providing some mood music.

"He knew how to lighten up the mood," Bumgardner said. "He was an awesome tension breaker."

Skyler Ramsey used to say that when he died if he was buried he wanted his guitar, his iPod and his phone buried with him so he'd have those items with him for the zombie apocalypse, Cason said. That was the kind of wry humor that brought smiles and laughter to his family and friends.

"He definitely wouldn't want people sitting around crying like we're doing," Bumgardner said.