TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay community paid their respects to a long-time mail carrier killed in a hit and run earlier this month.
“To think that it could have been any of them that just went by, you know, you’re just trying to do your job," said neighbor Daniny Gonzalez. "Things like this happen, and it's crazy. You never expect it."
On December 18, Tampa Police responded to a report of a crash, where officers found an overturned mail delivery truck. TPD said USPS driver Paul Falica died at the scene.
TPD later arrested a man in connection with the deadly hit-and-run crash.
On Friday morning, words were hard to come by as tears flowed while remembering Falica.
“It’s very hard to talk about how much we’re going to miss him," said JD Lewers, who worked with Falica for almost 17 years. “Almost 30 years, he was a mailman on the same route.”
For a final tribute, the community came together to deliver a memorial procession in his honor.
“Paul was a central part of this community," said Brian Obst, President of Branch 599 NALC-Tampa. "Spent 30 years delivering mail here, and it’s a terrible thing that happened.”
The procession started at the Sulphur Springs post office in Tampa and stretched car after car, with USPS mail trucks escorted by police along the route, and ended at a growing memorial.
Neighbors greeted the procession every step of the way.
“He was my mailman for over 23 years that I’ve lived in this neighborhood," said Gonzalez.
“I was about 10 years old when he started the route over here, and I’m 37 now," said neighbor Tyrone Jones.
To them, Falica was someone who went above and beyond, always wearing a smile, so Friday was a way to say goodbye to a beloved member of the community.
“He was more than just a mailman," said Jones. "He was family.”
A candlelight vigil is planned at the memorial site near the intersection of E. River Cove and N. Mulberry Street in Tampa on Friday at 6:00 p.m.
