Celeste Asher

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After spending more than a year on a church mission, Celeste Asher was preparing for the next stage of her young life.

The 22-year-old Tucson woman just learned that she had been accepted at the University of Arizona and was planning to study library sciences. Her father described her as happy, healthy and active.

On Monday, Asher and a friend went for a hike in the Rincon Mountains on a trail she was familiar with.

She never made it out of Saguaro National Park East. Asher collapsed and died before rescuers could reach her in a remote area of the park.

Her death on the Douglas Spring Trail has left her family stunned and confused. "It was just surreal," said her father, David Asher, about the phone call telling him about his daughter's death. "My heart broke."

Asher and her friend were hiking the trail when she began feeling ill, her father said. She sat down, but then lost consciousness.

Her friend called 911 and was instructed on how to perform CPR while rescuers hiked to their location. A medical helicopter arrived and paramedics worked to revive Asher. She was pronounced dead after arriving by helicopter at the trailhead, according to the National Park Service.

"She was in great health," David Asher said. "She would go to the gym with me and run the track. She was very fit."

The Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner had not concluded Thursday the cause of death.

David Asher said he spoke with his daughter about the hiking trip the night before to make sure that she was going with another person and was taking all safety precautions.

"When I left the house in the morning, my wife and I told her, 'Have fun on your hike, I love you,' and she said, 'I love you, too.' It was the last thing we got to say to her."

While Asher was born in Germany, she, her mother, father and two brothers moved to Tucson in 1990, when David Asher was stationed here with the Air Force.

After graduating from Santa Rita High School, she attended Pima Community College for two years, her dad said.

She went to Washington, D.C., for her 1 1/2-year Mormon church mission, which she had just returned from five weeks ago.

"She loved to help and assist others," he said. "She was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul and we were blessed to have her."

Funeral services will be held Saturday at noon at the Bonanza Latter-day Saints Chapel, 700 N. Bonanza Ave.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Southern Arizona Rescue Association, which "worked so hard to bring Celeste back home."