Candles and flowers have been placed in the 2100 block of Atlantic Boulevard in Commerce for 58-year-old mail carrier Joel Perales, after he was struck and killed by a driver who lost control of his car.

Perales worked for the United States Postal Service for nearly 30 years, and was working an extra shift for the holidays when he lost his life.

People who saw him on his daily route say they will miss his smile and positive attitude.

"Whenever he walked into the door, that big mustache that he had, smiling face all the time. 'Hi, how is everyone doing?' And just really was just a pleasant individual," said Reece Waiters.

Waiters will miss opening the file drawer and placing outgoing mail on the counter for Perales to pick up. 

Perales told his wife that the business route off Washington Boulevard was his favorite.

"People along his route have been coming to talk to us, people who have become our friends," said his son, Joel Perales Jr.

"People on his route would feed him, make sure he was hydrated, they took care of him because he was good to them," said his daughter-in-law, Yvette Perea.

Perales was married 35 years and has five children and eight grandchildren. The former football player was also a pastor, and taught his family to forgive.

"He would always say it that tomorrow isn’t promised to you. He wouldn’t be mad if this was how he passed on because he knew that tomorrow’s not promised to you. And that God definitely has plans for us, for the young guy who was driving that car. Vengeance definitely wouldn’t be in his mind. He would leave that to God. That would be God’s thing," said his son.

Waiters says he’ll never forget the mail carrier who became a friend.

"It’s take some getting used to not seeing him around. We’re just in total shock and we're just devastated by the loss to his family and the loss to the postal service. His spirit will be here though. His spirit will be with us because he was that type of individual, and we’re going to miss him a lot," said Waiters.