Kirk Schwabe was Taylor Swift’s No. 1 fan, forever and always. 

The former Chicago police officer—who taught Swift in high school before becoming one of her bodyguards in the early years of her career—died following a battle with cancer on July 3, the same day Swift wed Travis Kelce in New York City, Schwabe’s family told The Telegraph. He was 69.

“My dad had a remarkable way of making people feel seen, valued, and protected,” his daughter told the outlet. “Whether you were family, one of his students, or someone like Taylor whose path crossed his, he cared deeply about people. That’s the legacy he leaves behind.”

And indeed, Schwabe’s path first crossed Swift’s in 2004, two years before she’d release her Debut album, when he taught her criminal justice at her Nashville high school. Just five years later, at the request of her family he quit his teaching job to become her bodyguard as her career began to reach new heights.

Schwabe recalled this period of the Grammy winner’s life in an interview with the Telegraph in the days before his passing.