PITTSBURGH — When 43-year-old Kevin Croney was killed last week at his tattoo shop outside Pittsburgh, his wife became a widow and his children became fatherless.
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In what was most definitely a hard time for Croney's family and friends, they came together to honor him.
“I knew the day after that I could wake up and do something positive or I could just give up,” she said.
Just one day after laying her husband to rest, Cheri Croney decided to turn devastation into something amazing.
“I just said to all my girlfriends, ‘We’re going to go feed the homeless,’ and they thought I was joking,” Croney said.
Cheri then gathered up all the leftover food people had given her family over the past few days and packed more than 100 lunches.
“She and her husband cared so much for others that she is still, in these hard times, caring for others,” Carol Knight Silvio said.
According to her friend, Kristina Christmas-Kunkle, Cheri then drove around Pittsburgh handing the bags of food to those in need.
“She is so amazing. The whole family is just so kind and the community is mourning the loss of a great man, but celebrating his wife and his life,” Jennifer Carr Hatala said.
She delivered the food to shelters and homeless people around the area in honor and memory of her husband, Kevin.
“That’s what Kevin would’ve wanted. He was the funny guy and he was the guy you went to when you were sad or down on your luck,” Cheri Croney said.
Through it all, the mother of four has found a way to forgive.
“I don’t want to be angry. I just want everybody to know that my husband was a gracious man. He gave to everybody. And even though he’s not here, the remaining Croney family is going to continue to give like he did every day of his life,” Cheri said.
The story is quickly going viral on social media. Christmas-Kunkle's post was shared nearly 4,000 times in the first 16 hours it was posted.
“This is the story that needs to be shared. This is what his legacy will be. It's not the tragedy, it's the triumph of his family that needs to be shared,” Christmas-Kunkle posted on Facebook.
Christmas-Kunkle pointed out that Croney's children should remember their father fondly.
“Let's help make this the story his kids see in the news, not the horrific crime that stole their Dad way too early,” she wrote.
A vigil is planned at Croney’s tattoo shop on Sunday at 8 p.m.
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