Good Samaritans help man after tragic loss

Paul Lankford (left) talks with friend David Saldivar in front of their homes. Neighbors and friends are among those helping to fix Lankford’s leaky roof. Paul Lankford (left) talks with friend David Saldivar in front of their homes. Neighbors and friends are among those helping to fix Lankford’s leaky roof. Photo: Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Good Samaritans help man after tragic loss 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

As John Tovar rummaged through items at a recent garage sale at an East Side home near the church he attends, he saw the roof of a house close by that was in such disrepair that he figured the cornflower-blue home was uninhabited.

“But the neighbors said yes, someone lived there, and they told me about Paul and his wife,” Tovar said. “So we gathered hands and prayed, and I automatically felt I needed to do something.”

There were gaping holes in the roof of the home that Paul Lankford, 43, and his late wife, Maria, had shared with their 17-year-old son Jeanpaul in the 400 block of Denver Boulevard. The couple planned to use their tax returns to pay for a new roof — they'd already received a citation and municipal court summons for code violations — but their plans were abruptly interrupted in February, when Maria Lankford died after being struck by a hit-and-run vehicle while walking home one night.

Maria Lankford, 37, was taken off life support two days after she was injured by a dark-colored SUV in the 800 block of Westfall Avenue, just blocks from her home. She died the day before her 21st wedding anniversary.

Paul Lankford said his wife was always his driving force but that after he was told he must have his roof completed by Sept. 1, the pizza delivery man with no roofing experience began to tackle the job himself. Three weeks later, Tovar intervened.

“If I could have afforded a roofer I would have paid for them,” said Lankford, adding that he sold an automobile to cover the cost of materials. “It's been raining in my house for years, but we have no place else to go. These people came to my rescue.”

Tovar, his sons and his co-congregants from Young Vision Ministries, along with Lankford's neighbors and friends, volunteered to remove Lankford's decrepit roof and replace it with new shingles and wooden planks. Tovar, the project manager, expects to finish the job by Tuesday.

“He was going to get the roof done, but the unfortunate incident set him back,” Tovar said. “It's right here in the heart of the community, and I just felt some kind of a spiritual connection. I'm going to be here until it's done.”

Joe Garcia, 45, is afraid of heights but takes care of ground operations. A longtime friend of Lankford's, Garcia said the men are both hobbyists who enjoy working on cars. Garcia read about Maria Lankford's death in the San Antonio Express-News and has stayed by Paul Lankford's side ever since.

“I lost my own wife,” he said, tears filling his eyes, “so I know exactly what Paul's going through. It's terrible.”

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Neighbor Richard Ramirez, 78, helped Lankford's father install the home's original roof after the family bought the home in 1964. When Paul Lankford was 18, his father died, and Ramirez has acted as a father figure to Lankford ever since.

“After Maria died, (Ramirez) told me to take it one day at a time, and to be there for my son,” Lankford said.

Since the crash, which occurred as Jeanpaul Lankford and his mother were walking home from McDonald's, the teen has been taken out of Brackenridge High School, Paul Lankford said, and moved in with his grandmother while the roof is being repaired.

Police are still looking for the driver, and Crime Stoppers has offered a reward up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Tipsters are asked to call 210-207-7867. So far, officers haven't received any credible tips, a police spokesman said.

“I just want the police to catch him,” Lankford said. “He dramatically changed my life. My Maria meant everything to me.”

emoravec@express-news.net