Family and friends have paid tribute to the life and work of the part owner of a California Christian bookstore killed in a light plane crash.

Ken Hill, who died Saturday when the home-built plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff, was "just a good Christian guy that you could really count on," Marilyn Bedford told the Contra Costa Times.

"Everything reflected who he was in terms of his ethics, morals, love of family and faith-it was all really one great package," said Bedford, a founder of Attitude Aviation at Livermore Municipal Airport from where Hill sometimes rented planes.

Teresa Shaw, an accountant at Lighthouse Christian Supply in Dublin, Calif., which Hill had co-owned for almost 20 years, told the Times that Hill "was so accepting and so warm, and he had amazing stories."

A former Air Force pilot, Hill, 61, had celebrated his 39th wedding anniversary the day before the crash, which also claimed the life of his passenger, the newspaper said. Son Rich Hill said that his father had been devoted to his family and had been “very specific about being careful” when flying.

The cause of the crash was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

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