The Green community is encouraged to come to a candlelight vigil this evening starting at 7 p.m. at the Green Central Park Amphitheater, 1795 Steese Road.
The vigil for Samuel Rife will be led by Pastor David Weyrick, said Green Mayor Rocco Yeargin, and will include music. Sam was the son of J. Harlen Rife, pastor of the Greensburg United Methodist Church, and his wife Madeline. Rife made a social media post stating that his son “passed away yesterday following a road accident.”
He died on April 17.
Information from Green safety forces nor the Summit County Sheriff’s office wasn’t immediately available.
Yeargin called the family “a pillar of the community” and called Samuel’s death “unfathomable.”
“We are heartbroken,” Yeargin said. “The entire community is heartbroken for the Rifes. As a community we are used to coming together for joys, and its critical to come together in support for grief. We can’t say anything to take away the pain. But everyone at the vigil will have had their own relationship with Samuel, as a teacher, neighbor, friend, a member of a baseball team. Everyone is grieving in their own special way.”
Yeargin said the family has been actively involved with the Methodist church’s Green Good Neighbors program, which helps provide food and clothing for those in need, as well as the Bed Brigade, which builds beds for children who do not have a bed of their own.
A Go Fund Me was started to in memory of Sam. As of Sunday afternoon, $5,250 of the $9,000 goal has been raised.
“Per the family wishes we will be donating to support Family Support Specialists at Green City Schools in memory of Sam Rife,” stated Mandy Prellwitz on the GoFundMe site. “Sam was a passionate supporter of food security for all and volunteered at local food distributions in Akron and Canton. Honor the FSS program at Green, which is doing great work with our neighbors and family.”
Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Vigil scheduled tonight to remember Green pastor’s son killed Friday
Reporting by April Helms, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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