Photos by Mitch Lehman / TRIBUNE
Gabriel Crispo was remembered as a caring man who “lived life to the fullest” by friends and family members who assembled this past Saturday morning on the median at Huntington Drive and Kenilworth Road to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of his death at that very spot.
It was there that Crispo, 49, and his beloved dog Niño were struck by a white Mercedes driven by a juvenile who was involved in a street race.
Approximately 50 mourners assembled at 10:34 a.m. Saturday to commemorate the life of the teacher, who was killed instantly while jogging just a few feet away from Marta Blanco, his longtime partner.
“I still can’t process this,” said Blanco, who led the memorial. “I miss him dearly.”
One of his friends remembered how Crispo volunteered to help an autistic girl with her lessons as a favor to a friend. “He embraced everybody, everybody,” said the individual who told the story.
Another mourner said that Crispo “lived life to the fullest” and praised his disciplined lifestyle.
“He always had something planned,” he said.
Eventually, the topic of the memories migrated to Crispo’s love of physical fitness and the hours he spent in the gym, which brought many to tears and laughter. One attendee quipped about the amount of time Crispo spent in front of the locker room mirror, but quickly turned serious when he said their friend was “alive, in our hearts.”
Two then-17-year-olds, who live and attended school outside of San Marino, each pleaded guilty on Dec. 20 to felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and were sentenced to serve in an alternative work services program, the juvenile equivalent to community labor. Depositions for a civil trial recently began.
