Natchez &8212; Blase Patrick Gaud/ lived life to the fullest, his friends and family said as they mourned his death this week.

Gaud/, 44, died Sunday in Snellville, Ga. He was en route to Washington, D.C., where he was on temporary assignment with his company, Sandia National Laboratories of Albuquerque, N.M., a major contractor for the U.S. government in national security missions.

His wife, Patricia, son, Nathan, 5, and his mother, Roseminette Gaud/, were accompanying him.

Gaud/&8217;s accomplishments are remarkable because he excelled in his career and personal life despite an injury at age 17 that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

&8220;You didn&8217;t think about Blase as being handicapped,&8221; his sister-in-law Ann Gaud/ said. &8220;Anyone who got to be a part of Blase&8217;s life was truly blessed. He elevated you.&8221;

From the beginning of his life after the injury, the family encouraged him to do anything. He took up the challenge.

Younger brother Kurt Gaud/ said Blase snow skied and flew in a glider, for example. &8220;He always wanted to be in the thick of things telling you how to do it.&8221;

Furthermore, Kurt said, his brother&8217;s doctors referred to Blase as a kind of pioneer in demonstrating the kind of life a paraplegic could live.

Cathedral High School was playing Notre Dame High School of Biloxi, now called Holy Cross, to open the 1978 football season when the accident occurred. It was the first game for Ken Beesley Sr., head coach.

&8220;He was our team leader and always had a real good attitude,&8221; Beesley said of Gaud/. &8220;He never had a down day. Even after the accident, he didn&8217;t have a down attitude. He went to college and had a very productive life.&8221;

Indeed, friend Greg Whitam recalls that Gaud/ was determined to graduate with his Cathedral class. And he did.

&8220;He came back and graduated with us. He was very upbeat about it and accepted it,&8221; Whitam said.

Like Whitam, Ward Graning was on the football field when the accident occurred. &8220;He was just a special person,&8221; Graning said of Gaud/. &8220;He never let anything get him down; he never quit. He just finished school at Mississippi State and just went on with his life like nothing was ever wrong.&8221;

Gaud/ went to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Natchez and then to Mississippi State University in Starkville, where he graduated summa cum laude with double degrees in computer science and computer engineering. He continued his studies there to complete a master&8217;s degree in computer science, as well.

In New Mexico, he became a frequent speaker at school programs, urging students to heed safety regulations, such as wearing seat belts in the car and helmets when riding their bikes, said his mother, Roseminette Gaud/.

She recalled one letter she read from a high school student who wrote to her son after such a speech at a school.

&8220;He wrote that he saw a person sitting in a wheel chair roll into the room but watched a man roll out,&8221; she said.

For his efforts in support of the disabled, he was awarded the National Disabled Engineer of the Year Award.

Still, his friends and family said his personality changed little after the accident and his disability paled in the huge presence he projected.

&8220;He was bigger than life,&8221; his mother said.

Gaud/ and his family had been in Natchez for the Christmas holidays visiting his mother and father, Henry R. Gaud/, and other family members.

&8220;He said it was one of the most wonderful Christmases he had ever had,&8221; his mother said.

The family will be at St. Mary Basilica for visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. today. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Basilica.