A retired carpenter from Aurora, Illinois, is doing his part to be sure that the thousands of people that die through tragic losses like his father-in-law are never forgotten. Greg Zanis, age 66, says he found his best friend and father in law murdered at the bottom of a staircase in 1996.

The same year, a little boy in his town lost his life due to gang violence. Greg put his carpentry skills to use and built a cross in honor of the little boy and delivered to his mother. The small gesture turned into something bigger than the retired carpenter could ever have imagined.

Since that time, Greg has traveled all over the United States and has built some 20,000 crosses to help people remember their tragic losses. He built 13 crosses following the 1999 Columbine High School shootings; 12 crosses for the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado; and 49 following the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The list goes on and on.

Just days after the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Concert in Las Vegas took place, Greg spent some 80 hours building crosses for the 58 victims of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The carpenter’s kindness didn’t go unnoticed in Las Vegas and the Fox5 Surprise Squad let Greg know just how amazing they think he and his efforts really are. Watch the video below to see how they surprise Greg and show this deserving hero how much they appreciate his efforts.