The tight-knit family of Pete “Pekelo” Liva Save is still trying to put the pieces back together after a hit-and-run crash on Dec. 4 left their uncle dead on a North Long Beach street.

“We weren’t prepared for a funeral, we were preparing for Christmas,” said Piko Ah Sam, one of Save’s oldest nephews.

Save, 54, had been walking to a nearby liquor store to pick up cigarettes shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 4 when police say a black, newer-model sedan ran into him as he was crossing Long Beach Boulevard.

The driver of the car did not stop, police said, leaving Save in the middle of the roadway where he later died.

The family didn’t find out about Save’s death until the following morning when an L.A. County coroners official came to the family home in North Long Beach and told Ah Sam’s mother, who is Save’s sister.

Police are still looking for the driver of the car. Detectives are working some leads, but no arrests have been made yet, police said.

“I would say it angers us, honestly,” Ah Sam, 34, said. “Of course we’re angry, we do want justice to be served—not anything bad to happen to the person—but we just want closure for the family.”

Security camera footage also shows at least four cars passing Save’s body before someone stopped to help, he said.

“The person who hit my uncle: you could’ve at least stopped or called 911,” Ah Sam said. “It’s just not right, you just don’t hit someone and leave them to die.”

His death has rocked the tight-knit family, who have lived in the same home for decades, Ah Sam said.

“Everyone in the neighborhood knew who he was,” Ah Sam said. “He was always happy, he got along with everyone and anyone.”

Save grew up in that neighborhood and, Ah Sam said, got involved in gangs in his youth, but eventually left that life, becoming a carpenter and working in construction. When his father died about 10 years ago, he fell into a depression and struggled with alcohol until he started taking care of his mother, Susan, full-time.

Pekelo is the fourth child she has had to bury, Ah Sam said.

While he never married or had children of his own, Save’s 18 nieces and nephews were important to him.

“Basically his nieces and nephews were all his kids,” Ah Sam said, and was like a grandpa to their kids.

Ah Sam recalled that during his teen years his uncle would wake up early on Sunday mornings to set up a full omelette-making station for his nieces and nephews before they went to church.

“He would make the best omelets; he would literally have all the vegetables, all the cheeses,“ Ah Sam said. “You know how they say food turns out if you cook with love, that’s what he did for us.”

Pekelo is survived by his mother, Susan Solia Save, his sisters Minionetta Lalau and Susan Ah Sam and brothers Perry and Oka Save.

The family and Save’s brother’s motorcycle club are holding a fundraiser for his funeral expenses in Gardena on Sunday at 12 p.m. at “Da Shop” on 16625 S. Normandie Ave. They will serve a $10 plate of Kalua and cabbage, macaroni salad, chicken and rice. They also started a GoFundMe.

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call Detective Sirilo Garcia at 562-570-7355.