COPPER ” Childhood photos copied from those found in his mother’s wallet dotted the tables at the memorial service for Adam Brown, the 26-year old Frisco resident who drowned in Dillon Reservoir after falling overboard last Wednesday.

Friends and family gathered in Copper Resort’s Grand Ballroom on Wednesday evening to celebrate Brown’s life and share stories of how he would be remembered.

“It is so uplifting to see so many friends here tonight,” said his mother, Debbie. “Just seeing and hearing how people felt about Adam is helping us get through this.”

Brown moved to Colorado from Columbus, Ind., right after high school to attend Colorado Mountain College in Leadville.

After two years, he moved to Summit County and began working two seasonal jobs, one at Neils Lunceford landscaping in Silverthorne and the other at Copper Mountain’s retail department.

“Colorado is where my son soared on eagle’s wings,” Debbie said. “Adam really became a man here. What more could a mother ask for?”

Brown loved living in the mountains, his parents said.

“Adam was always in tune with the environment, and I think he really found himself here,” said his father, Greg.

Friends and co-workers who attended the memorial service described Brown as a “free spirit,” and many said his constant smile and upbeat attitude forever touched their lives.

“Adam was a wonderful person and a great friend,” Chad McFarland of Alma said. “He was always able to look at the bright side, and I was extremely shocked when I heard he was gone.”

His parents and two siblings, Abigail and Nathan, arrived in Summit County shortly after water rescuers began their search in the Dillon Reservoir.

When the mission changed from a rescue to a recovery, the family slowly accepted that he hadn’t survived the fall from the boat.

“Our faith has really helped us with this,” said Greg Brown, an ordained minister. “We know where Adam is today and, as hard as it is to say good-bye, we know we will see him again.”

Members of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office and the Summit Water Rescue Team attended the memorial service, and the Brown family said they were “overwhelmed with the support they received” during the search for the body.

“We have been so impressed with how people have treated us here,” Greg Brown said. “This is a very unique community, and we see now why Adam didn’t want to come home.”

The Brown family has set up a memorial fund, and donated money will go directly to the Summit Water Rescue Team to help purchase new side-scan sonar equipment, the same equipment that helped Colorado State Park Rangers from Denver located the body last Friday.

Donations to the fund can be made in care of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, P.O. Box 210, Breckenridge, CO 80424.

Ashley Dickson can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at adickson@summitdaily.com.