EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The man who devoted his life to bringing comfort to others amid heartbreaking tragedies is retiring.

Greg Zanis is the man behind tens of thousands of crosses erected at sites of mass shootings and other mass-casualty scenes.

The Illinois carpenter makes each cross has a name.

His mission — to spread love and compassion, often in the face of hate and sorrow.

Zanis constructed his first cross in 1996 to honor his murdered father-in-law.

He placed 22 crosses in El Paso, Texas after the August 3rd mass shooting at Walmart.

Zanis told NBC’s Lester Holt that as hard as it is, he knows it means the world to the families.