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A 21-year-old former hockey player from Bethesda who was known for his verve and generosity died Saturday in a fire at his Gunnison, Colo., home.

Adam Michael Lockard was a 2006 graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and the former captain of the hockey team, and was a senior at Western State College of Colorado. His mother, Karen, is B-CC's principal.

"He was one of the most joyful people I've ever met," Karen Lockard said Monday. "He was just sunshine."

Adam worked with youth in the outdoors and had an internship at the Adaptive Sports Center in Colorado, where he taught people with severe injuries and disabilities to ski, according to his mother. Last week, she said, he helped an Iraq war veteran use a chair-style ski system for the first time.

"He called me, he said ‘I'm at the top of the mountain, there's 10 inches of powder and I just made this guy feel whole again. This is the best day of my life.'" Karen Lockard said. "That was a week ago. He was on top of his game."

Saturday's fire started on the outside of Adam Lockard's house and spread inside, according to a statement from Western State College. Four students in the house were not hurt in the blaze, but Lockard and fellow WSC student, Lucille "Lucy" Grace Causley, 18, of Harbor Springs, Mich., died, according to the statement.

A Gunnison police officer and a firefighter were injured but have been released from the hospital, according to the statement.

Karen Lockard said the family will head to Colorado for a memorial service Tuesday. A service in Maryland is tentatively planned for President's Day weekend.

Lockard's former hockey coach, J.T. Burton of Rockville, said Lockard played defense on the B-CC squad and became a standout his sophomore year, Burton said.

"He was always kind of a free spirit," Burton said. "We actually nicknamed him ‘Freeskate' because he was a very passionate, emotional player but he had a different way of going about it, not always the most conventional way."

Burton, a former B-CC hockey player, has coached the team for nine years. He said in the time he's been involved with the program that, "Adam was one of the best if not the best captain that B-CC has ever seen because he was just such a good organizer and a good motivator."

B-CC hockey players were expected to sport Lockard's No. 26 on their helmets at Monday's game and for the rest of the season, Burton said. A moment of silence was planned before Monday's game.

Arsenio Bartolome of Chevy Chase, Lockard's former boss at City Bikes in Chevy Chase, said Lockard was "a natural" at mountain biking.

Bartolome said Lockard started working at City Bikes in high school, repairing bicycles, and came back every summer while in college. Lockard would visit Bartolome and sing and play guitar on his front porch — often covers from the band Phish, which he loved.

Karen Lockard said her son, who was majoring in psychology with a minor in outdoor leadership and resort management, loved Colorado, "and was never going to be the working guy behind the desk."

"We knew we were going to lose him to Colorado," Karen Lockard said, "but I thought I'd get to see him this summer."