A popular Bridgeport resident who spent a lifetime giving back has died due to complications from COVID-19.

Gilberto Garcia, 59, was known as a gentle giant who never turned down a chance to help someone in need.

While volunteering with his friend's auto club, he helped kids in the community stay on the right path.

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"When you call him, he was there," says friend Tito Rodriguez. "That's the type of guy, like, he never said no."

Those close to Garcia say he battled the coronavirus for 26 days before passing away this week.

Garcia was known to everyone as "Goya" because he was employed as a forklift operator at the Goya factory in New Jersey for 31 years.

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"I miss him dearly, just looking at him, sitting watching TV and laughing with him ... it's hard," says Elizabeth Ayala, Garcia's wife.

Ayala says she's haunted by the way COVID-19 separated her and Garcia.

"They took him straight to the ICU and I felt I didn't get to say bye," says Ayala. "That's the thing that gets to me, that they took him so quick, not even a bye or see you later."

The family says they've received a permit to hold a small memorial on Bass Pro Drive in Bridgeport from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.