'We will never forget him': Man killed in hit-and-run remembered by restaurant he managed

MELBOURNE, Fla. - "Thank you, Nate, for just being here all the time and for everything that you are willing to do for us, and I love you," said Jean Farrish, the Mansion restaurant co-owner.

These are things Farrish said she wishes she had told her employee, Nathaniel Real, 28, before he was killed early Saturday morning. 

Real was the manager of the restaurant Farrish owns.

He was killed by a hit-and-run driver just around the corner of the restaurant on U.S. 1 in downtown Melbourne.

Farrish says Real started working at the Mansion in July 2019 as a manager trainee, but he quickly got promoted to manager. 

She says everyone knew he was a star employee. 

"I am going to cry… Nate really brought the staff together and he was never angry at anybody if they made a mistake. He sat down and asked if they were OK, what's going on… He was just one of those great men that you always loved seeing his face when he was here," Farrish said.

Farrish tells us the staff put together some of his favorite things at the bar to remember him by, right next to the spot he used to always sit for lunch.

"We will never forget him here. All of us. We will never forget him," Farrish said.