A 30-year-old California man who was in New Jersey for a family wedding was killed early Saturday when he was struck by an SUV while walking in the fast lane of the Garden State Parkway in Bergen County.

Samuel E. Gottheim of Santa Clara, California, was struck about 3 a.m. as he walked in the northbound left lane of the parkway near milepost 169.7 in Woodcliff Lake, according to New Jersey State Police.

The State Police said Monday they don’t know why Gottheim was walking on the parkway. The crash remains under investigation.

Gottheim was originally from Ardsley in Westchester County, New York, public records show. He attended Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania and Rice University in Houston, Texas before moving to California for an engineering job, according to his LinkedIn page.

“After coming in for a family wedding that took place last night, my son Sam was tragically killed in a traffic accident early this morning,” his father, Arthur, wrote in a Facebook post. “The loss for his mother, brother, all his friends and relatives and me is devastating and totally surreal. He was a wonderful 30-year-old man who was just starting his life. We will miss him forever.”

According to his LinkedIn, Gottheim held a doctorate degree in philosophy and chemistry from Rice University. He worked since January 2018 at Applied Materials in Santa Clara, California.

A funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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