Photo: Go Fund Me
A Missouri family is mourning a father of 10 who was killed in a hit-and-run collision while riding his bicycle over the weekend.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Kansas City Police Department for more information.
Friends of Criniere said that he regularly woke up early and spent time outside to prepare for the day ahead.
“He’s an early-morning riser, so he gets up there, (at the) crack of dawn and spends some time alone,” friend Ken DeBenedictis told KSHB. “(He) prays and bikes around the lake and gets his thoughts together before the day. It’s part of his routine.”
Others who knew Criniere praised him and his wife for their generosity over the years.
“They’re so giving, and they were living off a teacher’s salary,” Erika DeBenedictis told FOX affiliateWDAF. “Ten kids and they always gave, and I would look at him and be like, ‘How are they giving so much?’ But that’s their heart, is to give to people.”
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AGoFundMecampaign to help support Criniere’s wife and their 10 children has raisedover $118,000 as of Monday afternoon. One of the largest contributions came from an anonymous donor who gave $20,000 to the family.
“Charles was an amazing person in so many ways and it’s left a huge hole in the community,” Pastor Athel Barnes from Grace Point Baptist Church told ABC affiliate KMBC. “He never did anything without love and just had incredible character.”
The pastor added that Criniere “had an amazing capacity to be able to wrap his arms around so many people at the same time — whether it was his nine children living at home or his church family or his extended family at the school.”
In a statement to KSHB, Martin City K8, where Criniere taught math, reminded students they could call a helpline to express their feelings following the tragedy.
“While the family undoubtedly continues to grieve, we share in their profound loss,” the school said. “This heartbreaking tragedy reminds all of us how precious life is.”
source: people.com
