A Sacramento County community came together on Friday night to honor a neighbor who they said helped make the streets a little happier.<\/p>\n
Some didn’t even know his name, but they will remember the man for the friendly way he waved to people nearly every day.<\/p>\n
Most knew him only as Jeff, the guy with the cowboy hat and American flag. He became a favorite in one Fair Oaks neighborhood for standing along Sunset Avenue and greeting people as they passed by.<\/p>\n
“Every day he would be there, and we’d drive by and wave,” said Fair Oaks resident Bruce Behrman.<\/p>\n
“He would salute. I would salute him back. He would give the heart sign,” said Fair Oaks resident Rileyne Behrman.<\/p>\n
Word spread quickly through the community and on social media that he had passed away.<\/p>\n
People touched by his daily kindness held a memorial Friday evening where he once stood, with candles, flowers, and flags.<\/p>\n
“He loved everybody, and he cared for everybody,” said Justin Henderson, a friend of Jeff.<\/p>\n
Friends say Jeff was disabled and had some personal problems. He started standing on the corner during the pandemic as a way to brighten the day of drivers and people walking down the street.<\/p>\n
Henderson stopped to talk with Jeff and got to know him over the years. He says Jeff’s death is a big loss for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
“He was just one of the most pure humans I’ve known,” he said.<\/p>\n
A corner stop sign has become a little less joyful now that the neighborhood greeter is gone.<\/p>\n
“There is nobody that could replace Jeff,” Henderson said.<\/p>\n
Jeff’s caretaker told CBS News Sacramento that he was found dead last weekend but the coroner has not officially released his name or cause of death.<\/p>\n
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