Samuel Chiriac was a resident of Battle Ground, WA.

Samuel was passionate about the church and music he enjoyed attending Church and caroling with friends. He was a member of a choir at the Southeast Portland Romanian Church.

Samuel was really passionate in playing his clarinet and oboe for the church orchestra and would never miss a practice.

Samuel Chiriac was a student at Ridgefield High School and was on the honor roll. He previously attended Pacific Middle School and Captain Strong Elementary School.

On December 25, 2016 Christmas day, Samuel Chiriac died in a car accident during a night of singing Christmas carols with four friends. Samuel and his friends all from the Southeast Portland Romanian Church had been traveling between church members’ houses, singing Christmas carols. There was no indication of any impairment, police said.

A GoFundMe was created with the goal of raising $20,000 to help pay for Samuel's memorial and funeral costs. ^[1]

Samuel Chiriac was a passenger in a car being driven by a church friend when it ran off Mount Scott Boulevard in Portland, Oregon and plunged down an embankment, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau.

Chiriac was one of five teenage boys who were traveling in a Volkswagen convertible from Happy Valley, Oregon, to Wilsonville, Oregon.

Three cars were traveling in a caravan when the accident occurred about 1:50 a.m. Sunday.

Seba Pop, 17, of West Linn, Ore., was driving the Volkswagen and passed one of his friends in the oncoming lane, but then missed a sharp corner in the dense fog.

Pop was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon at a Portland hospital, having suffered life-threatening injuries.

Also seriously injured in the crash were Caleb Pop, 15, also of West Linn, Oregon, and Timothy Posteucha, 17, of Portland, Oregon. Both are expected to recover, police said.

The fifth person in the Volkswagen, Johnny Cristurean, 14, of Wood Village, Oregon, was not injured.