CALLAHAN, Fla. – A Jacksonville grandfather died and a woman is in critical condition after two pickup trucks collided early Thursday morning on Lem Turner Road in Nassau County.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Renita Murray, 56, of Jacksonville, was driving north near Spring Lake Drive about 12:30 a.m. when the Florida Highway Patrol said her Chevrolet Colorado crossed into the southbound lane, striking 58-year-old Donald Lewis' Nissan Frontier.
Both drivers were taken to UF Health Jacksonville, where Lewis died.
"When my sister-in-law got the phone call and got there, he had already passed," Lewis' younger sister, Willette Thomas, said.
Lewis' family said he was on his way home from his job in Waycross, where he is an electrician for CSX.
"This is so unexpected," Thomas said. "I mean, you don’t wake up and expect this ... from someone who was full of life and love."
Thomas said Donald Lewis was the oldest of four children.
He’s the patriarch. Ever since childhood, he was the big brother who took care of you," Thomas said. "He is my brother and always been there for me -- his smile, his hugs. We were the two siblings that joked a lot."
Lewis leaves behind a wife of 30 years, five children and several grandchildren.
"(He) always had a word of advice, a word of wisdom., so much love to give to everybody," Thomas said. "And it wasn’t sparingly. It was abundant."
"He is an awesome husband to my sister-in-law JoAnne. She is suffering a great loss right now," Thomas said. "They were planning a wedding renewal in September. This is heartbreaking for her."
It's the first time in three decades his wife will be alone on Valentine's Day.
"He had flowers shipped and different things sent to her and he was planning to come home and do a Valentine’s Day dinner," Thomas said.
Lewis' love didn't stop with his family.
"One of the nicest men you would want to ever meet. You could not meet a better person. He was truly an angel," neighbor Jacob Hodge said. "He was the kind of person who, if you needed a favor, he would just do it.
Lewis' 80-year-old father is on his way down from Baltimore as the family is working on funeral arrangements.
This was the second fatal head-on crash on Lem Turner Road this week. Stewart Lee Bowles, 58, was also struck head-on Tuesday afternoon while heading home from his job as an aircraft mechanic with the Florida Air National Guard.
FHP is still investigating the crash. The accident report said charges are pending.