Son honors father killed in Lubbock motorcycle crash - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Sundays mean family time to Samuel Castaneda, and that's exactly how he spent yesterday.

"It started with me going to church with my parents, going to lunch," Samuel said. "After that, going to Sam's Club. And really just playing around with my dad that whole afternoon."

It did not take long for this Texas Tech student to need some dad advice from Sammy Castaneda.

"I was going to have him edge up my beard because I always messed it up," he said, "and he was always there to do that for me if I needed him to. He called me and I had already taken care of it and everything like that, and he said 'I love you' and I said 'I love you' back."

Those are the last words Samuel would ever speak to his father.

"It wasn't a good enough goodbye, I feel," Samuel said.

About 20 minutes after their conversation, Sammy, on his motorcycle, was hit and killed by a pickup driver police say was drunk.

"When I get to the hospital, I find out that I'm not going to be able to help my dad," Samuel said. "I couldn't console him in his time of need."

Sammy was 50 years old - a home remodeling contractor, a giver, and supporter of his wife and two children.

"Everything was a lesson to my dad," Samuel said. "Anytime I would want to do something, he would tell me, 'You need to learn this because one day I'm not going to be around.' And I would laugh and be like, 'Oh whatever, you know you're going to be around forever.'"

While it is hard to accept that his father is gone, Samuel feels Sammy prepared him well to stay strong for his family.

"A man's mistake yesterday took something really special to a lot of people," Samuel said, "but why give the man the satisfaction of knowing that he made so many people angry? Make sure [my dad] is the one who's getting the attention he deserves. Make sure that you end every single conversation with your loved ones with the simple phrase 'I love you' because it makes a lot of difference to me that that was the last thing I said to my dad."

The funeral for Sammy Castaneda will be held 10 a.m. Friday at Trinity at 7002 Canton Ave., with a procession to Brownfield Cemetery.

If you'd like to help, a memorial account has been established in the name of Sammy Castaneda at all Plains Capital Bank locations.

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