Friends of 83-year-old Loyal Clark “Fox” Temple said they had plans to have breakfast with him in Harlingen on Sunday morning.

Instead, the La Feria man was killed in a motorcycle crash Sunday at around 8:20 a.m. in front of Rooster’s Café in Harlingen on Business 83 west of Bass Boulevard. The Texas Department of Public Safety said Temple collided with a tree in an attempt to avoid another vehicle driving toward him.

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Bobby Ray, Temple’s neighbor, said he and the group he was with made it to breakfast and noticed the crash scene on their way back.

“It didn't dawn on us it was him,” Ray said. “It's just hard to believe, you don't expect it to be one of your friends. Somebody else, but not your friend.”

Friends of Temple are mourning the loss, and said he often brought all of them together.

“He used to have a Wednesday church service up at his house, have a little fire going, and he would give his little sermon,” Lola Rider recalled. 

Rider said she and her husband rode with Temple for years.

“It's a shame he had to leave the way he left,” Rider said. “People down here, they don't seem to really notice the motorcycles.”

Terry Crump, a neighbor of Temple, described him as a funny guy.

“He would tell stories,” Crump said. “He used to be a race car driver years ago, he always had something funny to say. He was a good guy.”

Ray said all that's left to do is remember the good times with Temple.

“He was a good fella, he'll be missed by a lot of people,” Ray said.

The driver accused of causing the crash was identified by DPS as 32-year-old Maria Rodriguez Muniz. Muniz was arrested and charged with failure to stop and render aid in a collision causing death, and criminal homicide. 

Muniz was released on bond on Tuesday.