MESA, AZ — A Mesa family is heartbroken after losing a man who was a father, husband and brother in a fatal plane crash.

Ray Longhi was driving near Falcon Field on Tuesday. He was in one of the vehicles that was struck by a small Honda plane as it left the runway and headed toward traffic. Longhi was killed, along with four of the five people on board the plane.

Longhi’s daughter opens up and says she wants people to remember her father for the way he lived, not the tragic way he died.

With a mother who works for an airline, planes and world travel have always been central aspects of Longhi family life. So, years ago, it was a natural fit when Ray Longhi took a job with Boeing and they moved into their family home adjacent to Falcon Field.

“I’ve walked the street hundreds of times, and most of those times it was with my dad,” said Lorraine Longhi, Ray’s daughter. “Planes or helicopters would fly overhead as we drove down the road, and my dad knew all about what model of plane it was.”

That’s why Lorraine was so stunned to learn that a plane had claimed her father’s life.

“I just couldn’t understand that my father could have a plane crash next to the same airport where he had lived for decades,” Longhi said. “It was impossible for me to imagine that something like this could happen a kilometer and a half from my house. »

Ray was picking up his wife from work Tuesday when investigators said a small plane left the runway and hit his car. Her daughter rushed to the scene.

“I just wanted to be with him and be close to him, because I loved him so much and I know he loved me so much,” she said.

His father was 67 years old. Longhi called him “larger than life.”

“Even though he was a big guy, he was so silly and good-natured, and he was always trying to make people laugh,” Longhi said.

She said he had plans, like spending time with his 1-year-old grandson, his wife and two children.

“My father still had more life to live. He had things that he still wanted to do, that we still wanted to do with him,” Longhi said. “It’s so unfair and senseless, but at the same time, I know my dad wouldn’t want us to linger on this and let us sit in despair.”

Ray was a family man from the start, according to Longhi.

“My father and all of his siblings were adopted,” she said. He is survived by his two siblings and his mother.

Longhi says that because his father was adopted into a loving family in New York, the children’s home Sunny Acres in Mesa holds a special place in the heart.

“I think the mission really struck a chord,” Longhi said.

For children separated from their families, Sunshine Acres provides a safe place and caring guardians. Ray frequently donated. Now the family is asking for donations in his name.

“It would mean everything to him, you know, I think he cared about so many people,” Longhi said.

As a family grieves quietly, they also grapple with many questions.

“We are devastated, we are confused,” Longhi said. “We want to know what happened.”

Ray’s daughter now has a new perspective on loss.

“My father was so much more than the way he died. The way he lived was simply the most special thing I have ever witnessed,” she said. “I just want people to just take a minute to hug their dad or their kids.”

Holding on to the little moments, in a sea of ​​memories.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to Sunshine Acres in Ray Longhi’s name can do this on their website. Clothing and other items can also be dropped off at the Mesa Children’s Home.