Man killed in motorcycle crash in South Lorain remembered as loving father

LORAIN — Xavier "Screech" Figueroa promised to always be there for his daughters, his girlfriend said Thursday. He once told her he didn't know why his own father left when he was young, but promised to never to do that to his girls, Rachel Donovan said. "I feel that was his purpose in this life was to be a dad," she said. Figueroa, 26, of Lorain, was killed Tuesday in a crash on state Route 57 near East 35th Street. Figueroa was riding his motorcycle north on Grove Avenue on Monday afternoon when a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox, driven by Felisitas Mendiola, 79, of Amherst, failed to yield to oncoming traffic when turning left off East 35th Street, according to Lorain police. Figueroa struck the front passenger side of the Equinox and was thrown from his bike. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Now, Donovan is left to explain to their 5-year-old daughter, Alani, that her dad isn't coming home. "She's confused," Donovan said. "She knows about heaven. … I just told her you know how I told you sometimes God needs people back and they go to heaven? I said your dad's in heaven, but you can talk to him any time you want. She said 'OK, I love you Dad.'" She said Alani was looking for him Wednesday when she saw his car at his grandmother's house. "She was so used to having him around … certain times, she's like, 'Where's my dad?'" she said. And while their two younger daughters, Amariana, 1, and Ayla, 2 months, won't remember their dad as they grow up, Donovan plans to make sure they know who their dad was. "Sometimes I think (Amariana) can feel him too because she goes around, that's all she says is 'Dada' all day … that was her first word," she said. "Every time she would see him she would open her arms to him and do her hands to pick her up." She said the day he died, he'd taken Amariana from their porch and napped with her inside — a common occurrence in their household. The five of them would often pile into bed and watch "Pawn Stars" or "Mayans M.C." until they all fell asleep. Donovan and Figueroa met when their families rented apartments in the same building. At the time, Figueroa was just an annoying 12-year-old she and her cousins wanted nothing to do with, Donovan said. But everything clicked back into place when the pair ran into each other six years later at the Puerto Rican Day festival. "I remember he was walking behind me and my cousin and he'd tapped me on my shoulder and I almost tripped because I looked back," she said. "He literally put my shoe on like Cinderella." The pair exchanged numbers to catch up and they'd been inseparable ever since, she said. She remembered his laugh, a high-pitched chuckle that everyone remembers, she said. And how he smiled when she told him she was pregnant with their oldest daughter just two years into dating — how he came to all her doctor's appointments and plucked Alani from Donovan's arms hours after she was born. They were best friends, Donovan said. "We were just living in the moment," she said. He'd been teaching Alani about fixing up bikes, and the pair had been working on a small bike together and recently painted it yellow together. He'd planned to pass his love for motorcycles and cars onto his daughters, something he'd used to try to bond with his own father over the years, Donovan said. Figueroa came from a line of strong women — including his mother and grandmother, Donovan said, and planned to instill that strength in his daughters. He and his older sister, Amanda, were raised by their mother Melinda Hernandez-Ruiz. Growing up, he and his sister were inseparable. "He was raised by women, his line of family is women," she said. "He comes from a strong line of women and his mom was his rock. And his Grandma Ruth. … I want her to be remembered too, that was her baby, that was her only son." When he wasn't at home with his girls, he was hanging out at the car wash on East 28th Street, she said, or fishing at Grumpy's. She'd worried about him riding, especially after one of his friends was killed in a motorcycle crash. On the day he was killed, he'd almost left without his helmet, but she prompted him to get it out of the back of his car before leaving. She said she'd begged him to sell his bike — a custom-painted blue Suzuki SX7 — but never got an offer high enough to let it go. Riding was when he felt free, she said, he left all his problems in the wind. "We prayed and worried every time he rode it," she said. "But I also didn't want to take it from him, because that's something he loved." Services for Figueroa will be held at Richard Reidy Funeral Home, 1783 E. 31st St. in Lorain. A viewing will be 3-7 p.m. Monday. Burial is 10 a.m. Tuesday. Prior to the wake on Monday, a ride-out is planned from the crash site on state Route 57 to the funeral home at about 2:30 p.m. A GoFundMe has been set up to help Donovan cover expenses for her three children, including supplies for Alani for kindergarten. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.