Praise and support have not stopped pouring in to a Niles family after a loved one accidental fell off a ladder and died. Jason Arnold was knocking off ice from the roof of his church, when he fell off the ladder and hit his head.

Jason leaves behind his wife, Karen, two teenage kids, a sister and his parents.

"I never, ever imagined how many people have responded and how much they cared for Jason," shares his mother, Freida Arnold. "Even though we're going to miss him, we have that feeling that he's okay where he is. We had him a short time, but he's in a better place, really. And we feel like we can see him again someday."

Jason was a star on the Niles High School basketball team, an interest he got from his own father. Jason’s son, 17-year-old Dylan, is following that tradition. Family and friends say, above all, Jason was devoted to his family.

"His daughter, Alexis, had written an essay a couple months ago for a school project and it was about her dad being her hero," Freida Arnold shares.

Freida says the minister read that essay at Jason’s funeral.

"We're told that many tearful eyes came during the funeral because of her essay about her hero, her dad."

Jason’s family says he loves kids. He taught emotionally impaired students at Lighthouse Education Center in St. Joseph. The superintendent says every year at graduation Jason would break down crying because he was always so proud of the kids’ accomplishments.

"He always had a smile,” shares Karissa Young, Jason’s cousin. “I was looking through the pictures at visitation and he always had a smile. He was always goofing around but also could be serious."

Karissa says so many people attended the funeral on Monday, some people had to stand and there wasn’t even enough room for everybody.

"His friends have been such a comfort during this time. They've been right there every minute--day or night--to help with anything that we need,” Freida says.

Jason is the second well-known Niles man who fell off a ladder and died recently. In December, Bob Cowan fell from the roof of a Dairy Queen while fixing filters.