A 40-year-old bicyclist killed in a crash east of San Ramon on Saturday morning was the vice principal of a Berkeley high school and was slated to become principal of a school in Napa.
The bicyclist, identified by the Contra Costa County coroner's office as Dublin resident Herman Shum, was part of a group of 50 to 60 people cycling east on Highland Road around 9:45 a.m. Saturday when the crash occurred, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Shum was riding at the back of the pack and crossed over to the other side of the road, likely to avoid a crash between cyclists ahead of him, CHP officials said.
He was then ejected off his bike and landed on the road, where a Peterbilt truck swerved to avoid the bicyclists but struck and killed him.
Shum was the vice principal at Saint Mary's College High School in Berkeley. Just a couple of weeks ago, he was picked to become the new principal of Justin-Siena High School, a private Catholic school in Napa, starting in July, school officials said.
"It’s really hard because he’s such a bright person always smiling," parent Deirdre Joyner said. "Very, very in-tuned with his students."
Many tributes to Shum's work at Saint Mary's were posted on the school's website following the crash.
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One wrote, "He made me feel safe, he made feel assured, he made me feel like I had a place. The day of graduation I felt so proud when it was my turn to receive my diploma -- he told me how proud he was of me. Hearing that from him was, great -- I felt ready for whatever was and will be thrown at me."
A GoFundMe account to help with Shum's funeral costs and college tuition for his two daughters had gathered more than $9,500 as of Monday morning.
"Every child has their freckles, and that’s what makes them unique, different," parent Sue Graham said. "And Herman Shum just appreciated every child for who they were and helped them be a better person."
Another person suffered major injuries and a third suffered minor injuries in Saturday's incident, according to the CHP.
The truck driver, a 56-year-old Livermore man, was not injured. Drugs and alcohol are not considered factors in the crash, CHP officials said.
NBC Bay Area's Nannette Miranda contributed to this report.
