A funeral was held Tuesday for a Toronto elementary school teacher killed in an alleged hit-and-run while cycling last week.
Family, colleagues and students gathered at Artscape Wychwood Barns near St. Clair Avenue and Christie Street, to pay their respects to Tom Samson, who was described as a caring and thoughtful teacher.
“(Our daughter) was nervous about the first day of school and he said: ‘take your time, come in with her if you’d like,’ ” one parent told CP24 Tuesday. “I thought: this is going to be a good year.”
The married father of two taught Grade 2 at Swansea Public School, where he had worked for eight years.
Samson was crossing in a pedestrian crosswalk in the Lansdowne Avenue and Davenport Road area on Friday morning when he was struck and dragged by a vehicle.
Police said following the accident the driver of the vehicle fled the scene. A short time later, a second vehicle struck Samson.
The driver of the second vehicle remained at the scene.
The 35-year-old was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Toronto resident Miguel Oliveira, 22, is charged with failure to remain at the scene of an accident causing death. He turned himself in to police on Saturday.
On Monday, Oliveira was released on bail.
