Over the past two weeks, the Redwood City community has spent time remembering the deaths of Benigno (Benny) Pare and Anil Sharma. They died on Nov. 3 during a fire at Avenue Liquors, where they worked.
In the early morning of Nov. 3, 2025, the fire department responded to a call at the Redwood City liquor store, discovering two victims, who were later confirmed to be Pare and Sharma. Students would visit the store, located at Roosevelt Plaza, for food, drinks and to enjoy the uplifting atmosphere that its workers created. Many were struck by Pare and Sharma’s deaths and shared some of their memorable experiences at the store.
Katherine Jasinskyj is a senior who built a connection with Pare. She often stopped at the store before lacrosse practice.
“Before the peach edition Red Bull got discontinued, he kept some behind the counter for me,” Jasinskyj said. “He knew I really liked them.”
Jasinskyj also described how Pare was very social, kind, and welcoming to everyone. She would miss seeing him in the store and the comfortable place he created.
“He likes to make connections with people and figure things out,” Jasinskyj said. “He [was] one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.”
Senior Ewan Elliott met Pare in 2022 when he visited the store to buy Cheez-its. He said he continued coming in because of his positivity and friendliness.
“My favorite part about going into his store was the music he’d play,” Elliott said. “You started dancing along to the music, singing it.”
Elliott’s favorite song that he heard while in the shop was Careless Whisper by George Michael. The atmosphere wasn’t the only reason he enjoyed visiting the store; he also remembered Benny’s hard-working nature and love for his family.
“I’m glad people are showing appreciation,” Elliott said. “If you saw the memorial outside a store right now, it’s stacked to the brim … I’m glad he’s getting the appreciation he deserves, because he was a hard working guy, and he was just very positive all the time.”
Since the deaths, the community has come together to support Pare’s family and to honor his legacy. There was a memorial service at Red Morton on November 15. Along with that, multiple GoFundMes have been created to support the families of Pare and Sharma, most of whom live in the Philippines.
“I hope people remember that people were just a sweet soul and that he had a family and he really did a lot,” Jasinskyj said. “I mean, he had a small store, but it made a lot of impact in that area.”
