The man who died after he was hit by a car Sunday was a popular bartender, restaurant assistant manager, father and family-oriented man, his friends recalled on Tuesday.
Pedro Rivera, 67, was hit while crossing the street as he was headed to Lucky’s in Montecito, one of his regular hangouts.
“He was deeply connected,” said Larry Nobles, general manager of Lucky’s and a former coworker and longtime friend of Rivera. “Everyone knew Pedro.”
Rivera worked for Birnam Wood Golf Club as a bartender and as an assistant manager at Teddy’s by the Sea, a restaurant in Carpinteria, before he died.
Raul Gutierrez, who worked with Rivera at Teddy’s in Carpinteria, told the News-Press in Spanish that Rivera was very family-oriented and talked warmly about his kids and granddaughter to Gutierrez regularly.
Rivera was born in Mexico City before coming to the U.S. He previously worked at the Four Seasons Biltmore in 2008 with Nobles, and later at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito.
While he was known for being “fun and silly” around the people he interacted with, Rivera was also very serious about his work as a bartender, Nobles said.
On Sunday the Santa Barbara Police Department responded to a “serious-injury traffic collision” on the 1200 block of Coast Village Road where a pedestrian was found unconscious in the roadway, according to a statement from the department.
The pedestrian, later identified to the News-Press as Rivera, was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for emergency medical treatment. Nobles said Rivera was with family and friends in an intensive care unit when he died Monday.
Nobles said Riviera always knew how to make his customers feel valued.
“He could make you feel like a million dollars,” Nobles said.
He is survived by his 92-year-old mother, his brother, his sons and his granddaughter.
A gofundme created on Monday has raised $12,643 as of Tuesday. The funds raised from donations will be used towards funeral and memorial expenses for his family.
