Bainbridge High School Associate Principal Jake Haley said he’ll remember Florentino “Sonny” Tabafunda as a “bright light” at BHS.

“You’d be hard pressed to find a more warm, friendly human being,” he said. “He always had a smile on his face.”

Tabafunda, 64, died Saturday when a boat and trailer that detached from a Ford truck driving southbound on Suquamish Way struck Tabafunda’s Jeep Cherokee. The Kitsap County Sherrif’s Office is still investigating the incident.

Tabafunda was a 1964 graduate of Bainbridge High School.

His father, Paul, owned a farm on the island and also worked as a welder at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and as a cannery worker. His brothers, Gene and Randy, still live on the island and his nephew, Darrell Rapada, works as the head custodian at Bainbridge High School. Haley said they were very close.

Tabafunda started working at Bainbridge when he retired from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 2005. He started off as a substitute custodian, then became a full-time custodian with the school district. He worked at Commodore, then joined the high school staff in January 2009.

Principal Brent Peterson said Tabafunda was very visible at the school, and stayed involved even after his children left the school system.

“He’s always been a guy who would go the extra mile for everyone,” Peterson said. “He loved watching his kids participate in athletics and other activities.”

Haley, who works with the custodial department, said Tabafunda always had a positive outlook. He also enjoyed watching the high school sports teams in action.

“He’d always take five or 10 minutes to watch the kids then go back to his duties,” he said. “The kids loved him. They always enjoyed his interactions with him.”

Haley said Tabafunda also went above and beyond what was asked of him.

During the Spartans’ football game against Salisbury in September, one of the light towers wasn’t working properly.

Despite wearing a flimsy raincoat, Tabafunda came out and worked with Haley and others for an hour and a half to help fix it.

“It was raining extra hard, but Sonny never said boo, never complained,” Haley said. “He wanted to be there for the kids. Sonny was the type of person who would have given the shirt off his back if you needed it.”

The hardest part, Haley said, is not seeing Tabafunda’s bright face at work.

“It’ll be painful to think of him and realize he won’t be here,” he said.

“We’ll have a custodial meeting and now he won’t be there. It’ll really be tough then.”

North Kitsap Herald reporter Tad Sooter contributed to the report