Man killed in Suquamish Way collision was Bainbridge High School employee

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s office has identified the driver killed by an unhitched boat and trailer Saturday on Suquamish Way.

Florentino Tabafunda, 64, of Bainbridge Island, was driving north on Suquamish Way shortly after 6 p.m. when his Jeep Cherokee was struck by a boat and trailer that separated from a southbound Ford truck, according to a Sheriff’s news release. The driver of the truck, a 44-year-old Suquamish man, was uninjured.

The Sheriff’s office is still investigating what caused the trailer to separate from the truck.

Tabafunda worked as a custodian at Bainbridge High School and was best known to students and staff as “Sonny,” according to a statement Monday from Principal Brent Peterson. The school will display a banner in memory of Tabafunda.

“His bright and sincere smile was reassuring and very welcoming to anyone who encountered him in any setting at our school,” Peterson said in the statement. “Beyond his impact on our school community, Sonny is a long time Bainbridge Island resident who has touched the lives of many Bainbridge Islanders.”

Memorial services had not yet been arranged Monday morning, according to the statement.

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