Winnipeg police Const. Guy Leveille atop a mountain in a 2006 climb that raised money for charity. (Children's Wish Foundation)A veteran Winnipeg police officer has died while mountain climbing in Nepal to raise money for a charity.

Const. Guy Leveille died last week when he fell while climbing down Cho Oyu, the world's sixth highest mountain.

Leveille had been with the Winnipeg Police Service for nearly two decades, spending time on general patrol, in the youth division and in traffic, police said Monday. Over the past decade, he became a forensic identification specialist.

"He was top in his field, and a mentor sought out for his knowledge, direction and advice," police said Monday in a release.

Leveille in 2006, before he scaled a mountain to raise money for a colleague's family through the Children's Wish Foundation. (CBC)"Leveille was someone you could count on at any time — day or night.… He was dedicated and humble — that was his nature. He loved the challenge of his work, like the challenge of climbing mountains."

In 2006, Leveille climbed Mount Ama Dablam, also in Nepal, for the Children's Wish Foundation to raise money to help the family of colleague Const. Chris Wingfield, whose daughter has leukemia, take a trip.

"It's pretty big for me," Leveille told CBC News at the time. "When her name came up, when this came up, I thought, 'Well, this is how it has to be. We have to do something for Chris and little Madeleine.'

"I've got a small photograph of her that's going to be in my backpack on the way up, " he added. "I'll be thinking of her."

Leveille's climb on Cho Oyu raised funds to benefit Nepalese orphans.