Friends and family of Kailua resident Norbert Silva Jr., who was killed Sunday while making repairs to his roll-off tractor-trailer, mourned his death yesterday.

"It's a tragedy," said Cliff Ornellas, 70, who lives across from Silva's Mo'oiki Street business in Waimanalo, where the accident happened.

Police yesterday said it appears that Silva, 65, was working under the truck when the lifts holding it up failed, pinning him beneath the vehicle.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extract him. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:34 p.m. No foul play is suspected and the case was being investigated as an unattended death.

The small, dead-end street was crowded with anxious people on Sunday, many of them Silva's family, who waited a long time for the investigation to conclude.

Silva, according to family members, loved fishing at He'eia and also was president of Lokahi, a Kane'ohe-based statewide pigeon-racing association.

He started his commercial refuse hauling business in Waimanalo 41 years ago.

"He was the heart and soul of the business," his youngest daughter, Nicole Otani, 28, said yesterday.

"As my dad would say, he 'was a jack of all trades and a master of none.' "

Silva would rise every morning at 4 or 5 a.m. and drive to the Waimanalo 7-Eleven for coffee and pastries, Otani said. He sometimes bought coffee for strangers he met in line who didn't have money.

"He would work overnight if he had to, and on weekends and holidays" Otani said. "He was just trying to do everything. He worked really hard so his whole family could enjoy it."

Leona Iseke, who also lives on Mo'oiki Street, described Silva as a good neighbor who always said hello and kept her updated on what was happening in the neighborhood.

"He was a nice guy," she said "And happy. Always smiling."

Silva is survived by his mother, two sisters, four daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral date has not yet been set.

Reach Kim Fassler at fassler@honoluluadvertiser.com.