READING, Pa. — A man who was killed in a freak accident earlier this summer was honored this week by a group he helped start in Berks County.

“Dave Crossett, aka Tree Hugger,” Ethan Brownback, an F3 member and friend, recalled.

It’s a fond nickname chosen by Crossett’s friends as part of F3, a group that celebrates faith, fellowship and fitness.

“It really focuses on invigorating with the whole male leadership, whether it be in the home, in your occupation, in the community,” Brownback explained.

“David and I share a lot of the same friends, and so I’ve been involved in the F3 group for years,” said Tim Crossett, Dave Crossett’s brother.

F3 is a nationwide, free group of men that meets to work out, support each other in friendship and faith, and nurture all facets of life.

David Crossett brought the group to Berks County.

On Monday, the group met in Allentown to hold an extra special “Manniversary” in honor of David, who died in June, when a tree he was cutting on his property fell on him.

“Fifty-three guys got together and did an extra hard workout with some of Dave’s favorite classic workouts, and it was a really beautiful event,” said Robert Turchi, the Hope Rescue Mission’s CEO and an F3 member.

An offering was also made to Crossett’s widow, but she decided it should go to the Hope Rescue Mission, a charity near and dear to their family.

“They’ve been involved in many different ways,” Turchi said, “in serving and promoting the Mission and really being big financial supporters as well.”

He added, “the impression Crossett left behind will never be forgotten.”

“It’s been neat to see that he (David) was every bit the man that I knew him to be,” Tim said.