The UNC community is again in mourning following the death of Evan Pilkington, a senior education major, last Friday.

Pilkington was found in the basement of his house with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head last Friday, according to the Greeley Police Department.

Two of Pilkington's roommates, Matt Priesmeyer, a junior journalism major, and Matt Anderson, a junior psychology major, describe their friend as one of the nicest people they knew.

"There's a lot I'll miss about him," Priesmeyer said. "He was always happy, always smiling, always looking for fun. He was one of the most caring people; he was always looking out for other people."
Anderson said one of his favorite memories will always be playing the video game "Crash Bandicoot" with Pilkington.

"We'd play on a Playstation," Andersons said. "That was our thing, playing 'Crash Bandicoot' in the living room. We'd just play and joke around. We also had a mini basketball hoop and we'd always play basketball."

Priesmeyer said he has too many fond memories of Pilkington to share just one, but he loved spending time with his friend, who he said was always smiling.

"There's a lot of memories," Priesmeyer said. "It was a lot of fun to watch him talk to people and talk to girls. He'd say whatever came to mind; he didn't care what people thought of him. He has the heart of a 6-year-old boy. I want people to know how good hearted of a person he was. He was always smiling, telling jokes. He was just a warm person."

Pilkington wanted to become a special education teacher after graduation, Priesmeyer said. He spent his summers working at City of Boulder Recreation Center and was an assistant football coach for Greeley West High School, according to the Longmont Times-Call.

"He was more of a kid than the kids he worked with," Priesmeyer said.

Pilkington, from Longmont, graduated from Silver Creek High School in 2007 and attended Chadron State College in Nebraska before transferring to the University of Northern Colorado.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be hosted at 10 a.m. today at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 323 Collyer St., in Longmont. Burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery, 620 11th Ave., in Longmont.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to the Silver Creek High School Football Program c/o of Howe Mortuary, 439 Coffman St. Longmont, CO, 80501.