That is sad news.
Being out of highschool for 12 years now, I have heard of the loss of a few classmates after time. One fun loving classmate she died half a year after grad when her car went into a lake. One good friend who, after punching her name into google I found a memorial site to her after a fatal climbing accident. Another who I went to elementary and highschool with and was somewhat of a rival, he died in an an another auto accident.
I'm just trying to say, I know what it is like to lose friends. It is a sad result of the march of time.