EUGENE, Ore. - Community members throughout Eugene gathered on Monday to remember and honor Major Thomas Egan.
Egan is the man who inspired the creation of the Egan Warming Center.
He froze to death during a snowstorm on December 18, 2008.
Monday's service was held at 1st Avenue and Blair Boulevard, where he passed away.
Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis along with other local leaders were on hand to remember Egan.
People who knew him personally SAID Monday was bittersweet.
"It breaks our hearts to have to memorialize him in this fashion," said Pat Farr, a friend of Egan's. "The ray of hope is that Tom has seeded a lot of inspiration for people to do things to take care of people who are in the same situation that he was in."
The Egan Warming Centers are a community-led and almost entirely volunteer-run.
The program provides shelter in nearly a dozen local faith communities when temperatures drop below 30 degrees.
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