"The life of the party": Green Country family connected to San Bernardino victim

As the country deals with the fallout from the San Bernardino shootings, a Green Country family has a personal connection.

At the Inland Regional Center, Larry Daniel Kaufman, known to his friends and family as Daniel, served coffee at the shop inside the center. The 42-year-old was killed in the shooting.

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His brother and niece live in Oklahoma. Sullivan said the family found out Thursday that Kaufman was one of the victims. The pictures come from his niece, Tabitha Sullivan.

Sullivan describes her uncle as a free and spirited man who loved scary things and renaissance fairs.

Kaufman's brother, Mike Henderson, had not seen him in years. Sullivan said her great uncle passed the information to the family.

"It feels horrible," Sullivan said. "I haven't seen him since 2008, and won't be able to."

"I was in pure shock. I was the one who told my dad, and he just broke down."

Sullivan started a fundraiser to help her father get to Kaufman's funeral. Click HERE to view the fundraiser page.

"After moving to Oklahoma we haven't had the money to go back and forth for visits. Right now, although struggling for the holidays, my priority is to try and get my father there so he can see his brother one last time," she said. 

FOX23 heard from Kaufman’s boyfriend, Ryan Reyes. Reyes described his friendly nature.

“The man could have had a 30 minute conversation with the cashier at the grocery store about his cats,” Reyes said about Kaufman. “[He was] just one of those people that everybody loved. [He] got along with everybody. The life of the party. Always funny.”

Reyes described what he knew about the shooting.

“Daniel just happened to be working inside the IRC building,” he said. “From what I understand, it was not an I RC event, and the people that were involved with the shooting were not involved with the IRC in any way. They just happened to be in the conference center.