Federal Way Mirror circulation manager Eddie McClain worked on Saturdays because he loved people.

If readers didn’t receive their newspaper on Friday, many knew to call Eddie, who freely gave out his cell phone number so that he could personally deliver people’s newspapers on Saturday.

Eddie passed away on March 26 from natural causes at the age of 40.

“All of his work family at the Mirror will miss Eddie tremendously,” said publisher Rudi Alcott. “The tender age of 40 is much too young. Your smile, generous laugh and personality will never be duplicated. Godspeed, my friend, Godspeed.”

He said that shortly after Eddie started at the Mirror a few years ago, he came into his office and plopped down in a chair, all dejected.

“I asked him what was up and he said that he checked his voicemail and had a complaint from a subscriber,” Alcott recalled. “I asked him how many and he said, ‘just one boss.’”

He told Eddie that just one complaint wasn’t too bad and to go take care of it.

“That was Eddie in a nutshell. One or a thousand complaints was simply not good enough for him,” Alcott said. “One was as bad as a thousand and he strived for complete accuracy … This is a quality in an employee that you automatically come to admire. One that Eddie did without remiss.”

Everyone at the Mirror and those in the community who met Eddie knew him as a kindred soul.

I remember one afternoon I was chatting with the editorial staff about the community groups who hope to build a day shelter for the homeless in Federal Way. Eddie — who was rarely at his desk, as he was usually out in the community bustling about helping to deliver newspapers — asked if we knew any of the regular homeless folks who line Pacific Highway South.

One of the those homeless people, Eddie explained, is a pregnant woman who regularly stands at the corner of Enchanted Parkway South and 320th Street.

The first time Eddie saw the woman, he parked his car, walked over to her and handed her a sandwich. He told us the woman was so happy that she cried and told him how hungry she was and how difficult it was to find something to eat.

Eddie said he went back several times to check on her, and to bring her bagged lunches or dinners.

This is how I will always remember Eddie — a man with a heart of gold.

“He was universally liked by all that had the pleasure of knowing him,” Alcott said. “He had that teddy bear quality, with the persona to match that all of us hope to achieve and very few do.”

Eddie was born in West Virginia as the oldest of four children and grew up in North Pole, Alaska. He also spent time in northern California, and Hawaii with his grandparents before eventually residing in Washington, where he lived for the last several years.

With a love of the outdoors, Eddie often dreamed of owning a cabin by the lake. He enjoyed fishing, camping, building fires and sitting outside to enjoy the stars, his family said.

He loved children and was a mentor to many.

Eddie is survived by his mother Kim McClain, sisters Michelle Colborn and Jenney McClain, brother Judah McClain, three nephews and two nieces.

A celebration of life service will be held for Eddie from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18 at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Auburn.

The Mirror and many in the Federal Way community will greatly miss Eddie.

There is a picture that will forever be fixed in our minds of him standing on the beach on a recent trip that he took to Hawaii.

The picture is shot from behind and Eddie, with his hands in his pockets, is looking out over the Pacific to a beautiful sunset.

This is Eddie at his finest — taking it all in and loving life.

“He came back from that trip energized and ready to enjoy life,” Alcott recalled. “No one knows when our time on Mothership Earth will be due up. I only hope that my life will be as fulfilling as what Eddie showed us his was to him.”