His full name was Thomas Boone Pickens IV, but at TCU, he was known as Ty “Cheese.”

Ty was a lover of music, art, snowboarding, golf and hunting, according to his obituary. His world revolved around his loving mother, father, sister and his dog Zeus.

Pickens, who was a junior strategic communication major and business minor at TCU, died Jan. 29 at the age of 21.

Pickens was born on September 13, 1991, in New York, to Jennifer Long Pickens and Thomas Boone Pickens III.

As a child, he was raised in Charleston, S.C., before his family moved to Austin, Texas, where he graduated from Austin High School. There, he was on the golf and debate teams.

Stephen Levering, his Communication Graphics professor, said he loved having Pickens in his class.

“We would talk music from time to time,” Levering said.

He is remembered as a generous soul who was willing to sacrifice anything for anyone, according to the obituary.

He was also a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

Ty is survived by his parents, Jennifer and Tom of Austin, and his sister, Joyce Pickens of Los Angeles, California; his grandparents, Lynn O'Brien and T. Boone Pickens, both of Dallas; his aunts, Pam Pickens of Newport Beach, CA, Deborah Stovall of Dallas, TX, Liz Cordia of Alexandria, VA, and Cynthia Blodgett of Hampton, NH; and an uncle, Bruce Long of Oxford, MD.

Chancellor Boschini has requested that the university flags be lowered to half staff on Friday, Feb. 8.

A memorial service will take place on Friday, Feb. 8 at 11:00 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin, Texas.

Memorials in Ty's honor can be made to the T. Boone Pickens Foundation for the establishment of a "Ty Pickens Memorial Scholarship" at TCU. the university. Contributions can be mailed to the T. Boone Pickens Foundation at 8117 Preston Road, Suite 260, Dallas, Texas 75225.