Bandonil, a custodian at Hawaii Baptist Academy, had left for work earlier than usual. Ritarita thinks that Bandonil was planning to catch a bus to a Kalihi recycling plant to check on aluminum cans he had dropped off on Sunday before going to work.

Bandonil, who celebrated his 82nd birthday on July 31, was critically injured when he was struck by a sports utility vehicle while jaywalking across North King Street at 7 a.m. He was pronounced dead at The Queen’s Medical Center at 9:02 a.m.

Bandonil was trying to catch a bus that was stopped at a bus stop fronting Farrington High School. The bus stop is about a football field distance away from Bandonil’s home.

"It had to be just for those cans," Ritarita said of why she thinks Bandonil was rushing to cross the street to catch a bus headed in the opposite direction of the one he normally took to work. "Otherwise, why would he go there?

"He’s a good man and hard working."

Michelle Oda, a Hawaii Baptist Academy employee who had met Bandonil about nine years ago, said he had a good reason to continue working. "He had two more grandchildren to put through college," Oda said. "He had helped to put all his other grandchildren, both here and in the Philippines, through college.

"He was just a gentleman, polite to everyone. We’re his family here and he’ll be missed."

Ritarita and Bandonil were both widowed when they met 15 years ago. Both were active members of the Filipino Community Club of Hawaii — he as past president and she as the current president —and the Filipino Cultural Club of Honolulu. Bandonil has five adult children, three sons living in Hawai'i and a daughter and son living in the Philippines, Ritarita said.

Ritarita was preparing to go to a downtown exercise class when she received a call from the chaplain at Queen’s advising her to come to the hospital. "They were trying to save his life," she said recalling the emergency room scene with tearful eyes. "He died but didn’t suffer long.

"I’m still shocked. Last night was hard. I couldn’t sleep here (in the house). I just miss him."

Funeral plans are pending, Ritarita said.