Motorcycle enthusiast and Army veteran remembered for his generosity and fatherhood
Jessica Rivas met her husband, Timothy Wells, while he was riding his motorcycle. It was an instant bond between the two when they locked eyes.
They both had two kids together and he was “larger than life” and made sure he took care of his children, Rivas said.
The Army veteran’s life ended abruptly March 23 when he collided with a white vehicle on Cedar and Cornell avenues, just south of Shields Avenue while he was on his way to a motorcycle meeting down the street by Arsenio’s Mexican Food. Wells was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
He was 34 years old.
On Friday, family and friends gathered at the crash site and placed candles and pictures and released balloons to remember Wells “who loved hard” to anyone that came across his path.
“He was boisterous, wild and funny,” Rivas said. “No filter. When I met him, I just met this person who had a sense of adventure and ambition. I saw how hard a worker he was. The best thing with my time with him was watching him being a father. I’ve never felt .... the bond between him and his kids was something (special). He made sure he took care of us.”
Destiny Upton created a GoFundMe account to help the family and funeral costs, especially transportation to bring his body back to his family in the San Fernando Valley.
Upton has since closed the account after raising $7,470. She called him a generous man who would go out and help others.
“If you need something in the middle of the night, you can call him and he’ll be there,” she said.
“Pretty much shows he has a bunch of different walks of life here: military life, regular and motorcycle family. He has a car club family. He’s a friendly guy with everybody and anybody that you talk to.”
Wells served in the Army in 2012 and was deployed twice, Rivas said.
She hopes he gets to have his military salute at this service.
“He was decorated,” she said. “He was a rare person ... a rare breed. He was very loved.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
