A father who perished when a gas explosion erupted in his coffee shop is being remembered as a man with “the purest heart” who “loved to serve people.”
Kong Lee died Wednesday inside Kaffeinate Coffee Shop two minutes after the shop posted on its Facebook page that it would be closed for the day, according to the News Observer.
Lee had called his children to inform them of the gas leak and to get the word out about the closure. He told them he would also post a notice on the cafe’s door.
Fire fighters arrived, ordering everyone to get out. Authorities said Lee refused to leave.
“He always wanted a cafe because he loved to serve people, and we were finally able to build him one,” his children Diana and Raymond wrote on the shop’s Facebook page. “He loved being able to bring people something that would make them smile. The family we created at Kaffeinate made him so happy. We watched your smiles give him strength and joy. Thank you. Above all, he valued family, and he did everything to give us the best life he could.”
The children have launched a Go Fund Me page saying the coffee shop was the family’s only source of income. They also asked for help in finding employment for Kaffeinate’s staff.
By this afternoon, the fund had already raised more than $114,000 of its $50,000 goal.
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