Family, friends remember man killed in hit-and-run on Lake City Way

SEATTLE — Family, friends and co-workers are remembering the 32-year-old Seattle man who was hit by a vehicle that kept going on Lake City Way Friday night.

Police said the 61-year-old driver called police later that night to report he had hit a pedestrian.

Jesse Gurnett died at Harborview Medical Center Saturday morning. Family members described him as a joyful person who often got to his job at Value Village on Lake City Way two hours early.

“He was always smiling and everything,” co-worker Blake Westphal said. “He honestly just made me more happy every time I saw him.”

His father, Wayne Gurnett, and stepmother, Candy Gurnett, hugged his co-workers as they gathered around a memorial on Lake City Way.

“All these people that he’s touched forever - it’s just amazing,” Wayne Gurnett said.

“He came into work every day, saying, ‘It's Jesse G on the J-O-B,’” remembered his former retail sales manager, Linda Sexton. She originally hired him at a different Value Village. “He touched my heart so deep, and this has just been a whole tragic situation for a whole lot of people,” she said.

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In a world where many of us grumble through our days, his co-workers said, his joy was rare. And it mattered.

“You don't see many people like him,” Westphal said. “Like in a workplace, someone who's genuinely happy to be there. Someone who's always at the same level of enthusiasm and everything. It just seems a lot more dim without him around.”

“He just loved being at work and being around the people and making sure he could help them,” co-worker Rachel Alexander said.

He was leaving that job Friday night when he was hit by a vehicle heading southbound on Lake City Way.

“It's a tremendous shock for everyone,” Candy Gurnett said. “It just doesn’t seem real… we’re expecting Jesse to come walking up the stairs any minute.”

His father said Jesse was living with HIV and a rare, progressive cerebrovascular disease called Moyamoya, which caused mini-strokes for him. But Wayne Gurnett said that didn’t change his son’s outlook or optimism.

“He looked at life like -- it's OK,” he said. “It's great.”

Jesse Gurnett also loved to dance and his moves were documented in a YouTube clip that showed him dancing over the course of more than a year while waiting for his bus.

“I’m going to miss him,” his father said. “He’s my buddy, my sidekick.”

Sometimes, it doesn't take much to make a difference and be a lesson for others.

“Life can get serious,” Loren Harris said. “Just relax and enjoy it while it happens.”

With his simple acts, his friends and family say Jesse Gurnett did a whole lot in his 32 years.

“We're not bitter,” Candy Gurnett said. “We're just wanting peace for Jesse and we want everyone to remember him.”

Police said the driver of the vehicle did not appear to be impaired when they interviewed him Friday night. They impounded his vehicle and are working to complete the investigation.

Cox Media Group