TAMPA, Fla. — A postal worker who was hit and killed in Sulphur Springs on Dec. 18 was remembered by family, friends and coworkers Friday morning.
Paul Falica, 69, worked with the postal service here in Tampa Bay for decades. He became family to the Sulphur Spring community he served.
"It's like we've known him. He's watched our kids grow up. We watched him grow up from a young man to an older man," one woman living in Sulphur Springs, Nicole Harris said.
Falica was in the postal service for 40 years. Tyrone Jones remembers being 10 years old when he first met Falica.
"He saw me grow up. He was always telling me, 'Stay out of trouble,'" Jones said.
Falica was near the end of his career and preparing to retire. That was taken from him when he was hit and killed on Dec. 18 along E. River Cove and N. Mulberry Street in Sulphur Springs. Authorities say the driver took off and left Falica to die.
"I was crushed. For him getting ready to retire and to go out this way, I was crushed. Heartbroken," Jones said.
His coworkers said Falica greeted them every morning with a smile.
"It’s very hard to talk about how much we’re going to miss him," JD Lewers, a postal worker said.
Falica's coworkers rode along his route Friday morning with a police procession. It's the same route he has been delivering mail on for the past 30 years.
"He was dedicated. He was dedicated to his work and he was especially dedicated to his people," Lewers said.
His family had a funeral service for him in Staten Island Friday morning.
As for Christopher Prater, the man who admitted to hitting Falica, a judge denied him bond. Prater faces leaving the scene of a crash with death and driving with a suspended license. Prater has a previous criminal history, including driving offenses.
