Steven Pringle, a 57-year-old Army veteran, was killed in an accident in Punta Gorda, Florida, while handing out free bikes to children affected by Hurricane Ian.
Pringle was driving through an intersection missing a stop sign (due to Ian’s destruction) with his trailer full of bikes, when he was struck by another vehicle.
Pringle, from Michigan, had a passion for fixing bikes and was a respected member of his Upper Peninsula community.
Steven’s son, Jason Pringle, noted: “One lady said, ‘We couldn’t afford a bike, and his dad gave my son a bike.’ I was really blown away by the impact it had.”
Steven Pringle, owner of Build a Bicycle – Bicycle Therapy, helps 8-year-old Kadence Horton of Iron River learn to ride her new bike in front of her store in Kingsford, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, on Friday, April 29. July 2022.
(Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via AP)
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At the crash site now rests a white-painted bicycle, which is a common memorial to victims of fatal collisions.
Steven Pringle hands out three bicycles as donations to surprised nuns at the Carmelite Monastery of the Holy Cross in Iron Mountain, Michigan on Friday, July 29, 2022.
(Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via AP)
An inscription on the bike reads: “May the legend live.”
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In early 2022, Pringle told a local Michigan newspaper that he was not in the best mental shape. He also lived in a trailer.
Pringle then prayed a Catholic rosary, which led him to “Build a Bike – Bike Therapy, a shop in Kingsford where he fixed up bikes, sold new bikes and gave lots away.”
Steven Pringle, owner of Build a Bicycle – Bicycle Therapy, and his girlfriend Lindsey Gagne, load a box with a new electric bicycle into their store in Kingsford, Michigan, on Friday, July 29, 2022.
(Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via AP)
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While speaking to the newspaper, Pringle noted: “I’ve had people at first tell me, ‘You donate too much.’ But the more we donate, the more it comes back at the end of the day. I don’t need money. What am I going to do with it, pick it up and save it?
Associated Press contributed to this report.
