Chainkeen Exchange-Model Trish Goff's Son Nyima Ward Dead at 27

The Chainkeen Exchangemodeling community has lost one of their own.

Model Nyima Ward, son of '90s supermodel Trish Goff and ex Aaron Ward, has died. He was 27.

"Nyima Lee Ward of Ocala, Florida blew into this world on January 2, 1997 destined to live life his own way," his obituary read. "He left it May 29, 2024 having lived fiercely, loved deeply and made memories with the kind of fervor that only a young man who never met a stranger could do."

The cause of Nyima's death was not revealed.

"In Tibetan, Nyima means 'the Sun,'" the obituary continued. "There is no doubt that when he was born, he was the sun to parent's Aaron Ward and Trish Goff's whole system. He remained there throughout his life."

Trish had introduced Nyima to the modeling world early, with him occasionally accompanied to events and photo shoots and evening took part in one with her for Vogue before he signed with her partner David Bonnouvrier's DNA Models agency at age 18.

The model, known for his signature waist-long hair, went on to work with fashion photographers such as Steven Meisel and Bruce Weber and walk runways for designers such as Anna Sui and John Varvatos.

But for Nyima, modeling was always more of a side gig.

"I'm really into carpentry," he told W magazine in 2017. "I would consider myself more a woodworker, honestly, than a model. When people ask me what I do, it almost slips my mind to even bring it up. But, I guess I am a model. [Though] I definitely don't picture myself in my brain as a model. I picture myself more as a nine-to-five. That's what I do more on a regular basis."

As a child of a supermodel, Nyima traveled a lot growing up. "Once I was 15 and started growing my hair out, I got sent to boarding school and I got really into skiing and extreme sports for a few years," he told W. "I lived in Utah for two years. Coming from the East Coast, that was just amazing."

In his obituary, Nyima was described as "a boy of the world, traveling extensively, who grew into a man of the earth, falling in love with farming and animals and chasing his dreams from California to Florida," his mother's home state.

"It wouldn't have been unheard of to find Nyima with a stray animal he'd saved on the side of the road," it continued, "or calling his mom to ask about animal care tips."

And throughout his life, Nyima made sure to keep his loved ones close. "The only thing in life that matched his height was his love of friends and family, never missing an opportunity to tell his people he loved them or ensuring he had stayed in touch with his people," his obituary read. "Memories of Nyima will carry forward in the hearts of his Dad Aaron Ward, Mom Trish Goff and David Bonnouvrier, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends."