Retired welder Thaddeus "Ted" Pirga Jr., a popular newspaper seller in Kai­muki for nearly 20 years, died Sunday after someone stabbed him at his post on Wai­alae Avenue.

Pirga, 70, of Hawaii Kai, died shortly after paramedics took him to a hospital at about 4 a.m.

"It’s heartbreaking," said Pirga’s oldest daughter, Tracy Dwire, by phone from her home in Las Vegas. "I just Skyped with him the other day. He was just lively and happy-go-lucky as usual, and now he’s gone."

Police homicide Lt. Walter Calistro said detectives had no suspects and were trying to determine a motive.

He said someone called police about a male needing help at about 3:40 a.m., and responding officers found Pirga on the sidewalk where he had been stabbed. Paramedics took Pirga in critical condition to a hospital, where he died.

Police opened a second-degree murder case.

Calistro said the stabbing occurred in front of Cafe Miro, where Pirga sold the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser every Sunday. He asked anyone with information to call 911 and speak to detectives.

Pirga had been stabbed four or five times, according to his family. Dwire said her father’s wallet and keys were still on him.

Selling papers near 9th Avenue was a family tradition that Pirga’s father, Thaddeus Pirga Sr., started about 40 years ago for The Hono­lulu Advertiser, Dwire said. Besides the paper, Pirga Sr. peddled his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness.

After Dwire’s grandfather died, Pirga Jr. continued to sell the paper, but as a way to socialize. Dwire said her father had been selling on Sundays since the late 1990s.

"My dad was just Mr. Aloha," Dwire said, adding that he didn’t sell the paper for the income. "It gave him joy to talk to all these people who would meet him in the morning."

Pirga would leave his home at about midnight, had the newspapers dropped off to him early in the morning and sold papers until about 11 a.m.

Dwire said she was angry about what happened and that the family never had concerns about her father selling papers in the dark because he was so widely known in the neighborhood.

"It wasn’t something that we worried about," she said.

Kaimuki resident Faith Hirao said Pirga would give her a heads-up if he saw her bus approaching, and that he also clipped coupons for a nearby resident.

"A lot of people love him," Hirao, 58, said. "I’m going to really miss seeing him."

Jennifer Muehle, whose window overlooks Wai­alae Avenue, said she immediately worried about Pirga after seeing blood on the sidewalk and the police investigating.

She left a bouquet of flowers at Pirga’s spot, where she bought a paper from him every Sunday.

"He gave so much to this community," said Muehle, 29. "He was just the sweetest guy, and he had a big smile on his face all the time."

Pirga is survived by his wife, Flor­ence, of 49 years, his two daughters, several grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Donations to Pirga’s wife can be made at www.go­fund­me.com/h0pj1g.