NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk restaurant is mourning the loss of one of its own after an employee was fatally hit by a car while crossing the street this week.
62-year-old Eric Henderson was a line cook for the Green Onion. The staff there is devastated by his loss. The restaurant’s general manager tearfully told us Henderson was a good man.
“To be struck by a car and killed, it just devastated us,” said Randy Hobbs.
Hobbs serves as the general manager of the Green Onion in Ghent. Henderson had worked there as a line cook since last fall.
“He never said goodbye. He always said ‘Have a blessed evening’ or ‘Have a blessed day’ and he always thanked everybody. He was a gentle, kind man in the kitchen,” Hobbs recalled.
Hobbs said Henderson was phenomenal in the kitchen and was an easy hire, fitting in quickly at the French eatery.
“He really became part of our family and he was loved by everybody who worked here,” Hobbs said.
Henderson was fatally hit while crossing the street at Monticello Avenue near Virginia Beach Boulevard around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The driver left the scene, leaving Henderson critically injured in the roadway. Hobbs just wants someone to come forward.
“It’s kind of hard to think on Monticello Avenue at 5:30 in the evening nobody saw anything, a hit and run. I’m hoping somebody saw something, knows something. To leave somebody there hurt, wounded or dying is inhumane,” Hobbs stated.
Norfolk police say Henderson was hit by a sedan.