PHOENIX — Fridays were sacred for Ricardo Castillo.
He mentored a recovery group of teens at his beloved Grace Walk Church. To everyone here, he was simply known as "Rico."
"It's been really tough. Rico was special," said Fred Callaway, one of the pastors at the church.
Callaway said Rico made a big impact on the kids in the group. Many of them were foster kids.
"Foster care, you just feel left out of the world. They were just broken, but you could see them come in full of happiness and joy. It's a process we watched happen," said Callaway.
"You know when someone loves you. You know when someone cares, and Rico had that about him.
Friday evening, Rico's church community came together and took turns celebrating his life and talking about his impact.
Dozens came on stage, including his daughter, who spoke anonymously.
"My father impacted so many people," she said.
His daughter said when she asked why he spent so much time at the church mentoring youth, his answer was, "He would say, it doesn't matter if all of them didn't hear. I'm only preaching for that one person. To change that one person's life."
Funeral services for Rico are being planned for some time next week.