Veteran TV director, writer, producer and showrunner Ralph W. Hemecker has died. He was 65.

Hemecker, whose work spanned three decades and included directing 31 episodes of Blue Bloods and 28 episodes of Once Upon a Time, died July 10 at his home in Glendale.

He also directed episodes of The X-Files, Millennium, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, The Vampire Diaries, Nikita, V, Legends of Tomorrow, Quantico, Body of Proof, The Flash and Pacific Blue as well as the 2000 TNT TV movie Witchblade, going on to serve as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the Witchblade TV series across its two-season run from 2001-02.

And he directed the pilot for Roar, starring a then little-known Heath Ledger, as well as the pilots for Lawless and Dead at 21.

Born on June 12, 1961, Ralph William Hemecker graduated from Bucknell University, where he studied English, made short films and developed a passion for visual storytelling. He went on to take filmmaking courses at NYU and begin a career in production and postproduction.

Some of his earliest directing work was on America’s Most Wanted, helming dramatic reenactments of real-life crimes, and he directed episodes of Silk Stalkings, on which he worked behind the scenes, as well as Renegade.

“Some losses are impossible to put into words,” Once Upon a Time actress Lana Parrilla wrote on Instagram. “Ralph Hemecker was one of the kindest, most generous souls I’ve ever known. One of Once Upon a Time’s defining directors. A truly passionate, beautiful man and my dear friend. I was lucky enough to shadow Ralph as a director as he knew Once, behind the camera, best. He was always carrying a camera in hand, staying up all night in the director’s office putting his shots together, studying the scripts and endlessly visiting sets in preparation. His passion was infectious. We always knew if Ralph was directing, we were in good hands.”

Hemecker is survived by his two stepdaughters; his father, sister and brother; two nephews; a niece; and a great-nephew.

Hemecker admired the Navy SEALs’ courage, discipline, resilience and commitment to service and was inspired by their leadership principles. As a result, his family asks that memorial donations be made to the SEAL Future Foundation in his memory.

A celebration of his life will be announced at a later date.