Hundreds Gather at Santee Crash Site to Laugh, Love, Light a Candle for UPS Driver

“It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,” the saying goes.

Thursday night, hundreds of Santee residents gathered in the darkness to light a candle for Steve Krueger, the UPS driver killed when a small plane hit his parked truck Monday and exploded in the front yard of a neighbor.

And they shared how he was a bright light in their lives.

Neighbors lit candles, placed bouquets of flowers near photos of him and shed some tears.

“He was the friendliest guy, sweetest, nicest,” said neighbor Nancy McDaniel. “He always had a smile on his face, just a nice guy. And it’s so sad, so sad.”

She said customers came first and then his job.

“We used to joke all the time, just a down-to-earth guy, so I thought I needed to be here.”

Krueger was delivering packages on his route and stopped his truck at Jeremy and Greencastle streets. Witnesses said a twin-engine Cessna clipped the truck, setting it on fire and then destroyed two homes in the ensuing fireball.

The pilot, Dr. Sugata Das, a cardiologist who commuted between San Diego and Yuma, was killed and two residents in a burned house were hospitalized with burns. Neighbors rescued the residents from the burning home.

Aviation officials are investigating the cause of the crash.

Thursday night’s vigil for Krueger was organized two blocks from the crash. Families gathered and pizza was given out.

Neighbor Rebecca Eidson said: “Steve was more of a friend than he was our UPS man. He always had time to stop and say hello, chat.”

“He told funny stories,” she continued.” He’d always wave and if he was out front, he would give my puppy a little scritch on the head.”

Eidson said Kreuger loved Christmas time and her Christmas cookies, and they spoke about the upcoming holiday. She urged him to stop by for baked treats.

“He was just a really nice guy,” Eidson said, adding she knew him for 10 years. “We just want his family to know that Santee loves and will remember him.” 

Neighbor Stephanie Price said Krueger was her UPS guy.

“You’d see him in the neighborhood, and you’ve got to show his family and everybody how much he was loved,” Price said. If it were her, she said: “I would like to know how impactful I was in the community. … He was amazing.”

In addition to Santee Mayor John Minto, two of Krueger’s brothers spoke to the crowd gathered in the streets.

Jeff Krueger said his brother wouldn’t want people to be sad because of his death, but he would rather have people remember the fun times or occasions when he made them laugh.

“We all know Steve was pretty good at doing that,” Jeff said.

Krueger said his brother would always tell him stories about customers on his route – and their dogs. He always carried dog treats on his route.

“All of the affection and overwhelming response from all of you have made this much easier to deal with,” Jeff told the crowd.

He added later: “I just can’t thank you enough of all of this coming together. I know he is looking down right now, smiling.”

A light moment came when he described his brother Steve’s “massive sweet tooth.” And while he enjoyed neighbors’ treats and ice cream at a restaurant, he remained thin.

“I don’t know how that guy stayed so skinny so long,” Krueger said. “He could really put it on and never show it, very frustrating.” 

To which Mayor Minto joked: “Yeah, that’s the one thing I didn’t care about him.”

Minto had meet Steve Krueger twice and remarked how he complimented him on his “nice legs” showing beneath his UPS shorts.

Krueger’ brother Rick told how he had a good relationship with his brother. “We never had an argument,” he said.

Victor Arreola, a fellow UPS employee who worked with Krueger for more than 25 years, said, “He was always in a good mood, always laughing. He would always smile at you, always say hi to you.

“That’s what I remember most about him, that nothing brought him down,” Arreola said. “It was awesome to know him for so long.” 

The UPS worker continued that Krueger was really cordial, and nice to everyone, saying: “He taught me to always smile with people, always acknowledge people. He was like a brother to us.”

Robert Moreno, another co-worker, told the crowd, “You guys have shown Steve so much love. It’s amazing to see so many people come together.

“Most of us go to work because we have to. Steve went to work because he wanted to. He could have retired, but he loved his neighborhood. He loved his customers. He loved his job.” 

“UPS is interesting because they come and they go, they come and they go,” Minto said. “We don’t always stop and talk to them and get to know who they are…. This tells us something. It’s important for us to know the people around us because you never know what’s going to happen.”

“So get to know the people that you deal with on a daily basis because they are part of the community,” he continued. “I love you and respect you for being here.” 

As people stood and talked to each other after the tribute, a UPS driver passed the crowd. The people stopped talking and cheered the driver.