The crash happened around 6 a.m. at Soto Street and Lancaster Avenue in Boyle Heights.
Shannon Hamilton can't believe her father, Kenneth Hamilton, is gone.
"Everyone is just surprised by it. He's rode motorcycles for so long," she said.
Police say while driving his motorcycle, he was hit by a driver in a silver Honda Civic DX.
"That accident caused the motorcyclist to then collide with the curb, at which time he was ejected and collided with the upright of a tri-light traffic signal," said LAPD Det. Michael Caden.
Police believe the passenger-side mirror of the Honda was sheared off in the crash.
Hamilton was coming home from his job as a corrections officer for troubled youth at Eastlake Juvenile Hall.
"Outgoing, willing to assist whenever asked, always saying 'hi,' always just a real friendly guy," said Greg McCovey, the victim's supervisor.
For 17 years, Hamilton was an assistant baseball coach at Santiago High School in Corona - the last 14 of them alongside Ty DeTrinidad.
"Consummate professional, consummate friend, good to the community. Just someone you'd look at and say, 'I'd like to model myself after that person,'" said DeTrinidad.
Hamilton's family has a message for the driver who fled.
"You got to do the right thing just like my dad would do. You got to face the consequences for your actions," said Shannon Hamilton.
A memorial is being planned for 1 p.m. Saturday on the baseball field at Santiago High.
