How Paul Walker's family will honor him on his 50th birthday

Originally appeared on E! Online

Paul Walker's family is keeping him close to their hearts.

It's been nearly a decade since the "Fast & Furious" actor tragically passed away at the age of 40. And as his 50th birthday quickly approaches on Sept. 12, his loved ones — including brother Cody Walker — are continuing to honor his memory.

"I'll spend [Paul's birthday] like I always do, with my family," Cody told E! News at the 2023 FuelFest Mid-Atlantic Sept. 9. "For several years now, usually members of the family will take a picture of the sunset and then we text it around."

"Paul wasn't a big drinker, but when he would have something to drink, it'd be some sort of a whiskey," he continued. "So, sometimes we'll take a picture of the bottle and a little shot and we'll send it around, as it's like a little cheers type of a thing. But it's nothing big, I just want to be with my family. I've got three kids now."

Cody and his wife Felicia Knox are parents to daughter Remi Rogue Walker, 5, son Colt Knox Walker, 2, and baby boy Paul Barrett "Bear" Walker, 5 months, who shares a name with his late uncle.

Paul Walker: A Life in Pictures

"That's a family name," the 35-year-old explained to E! News. "My dad is Paul William Walker, my grandfather, my great-grandfather. Growing up, my brother was always Little Paul or P4."

Referencing his niece Meadow Walker, Cody noted, "Paul had a daughter and he didn't have a son. Honestly, I don't know that he would've named his son Paul. I think it probably would've stopped at him. But I had a girl and then a son, and then the timing wasn't right. At the time, my middle child, my boy's about to turn 3 and it just wasn't right."

So, when their baby boy arrived in late April, it seemed like the perfect fit. "We've never found out what the gender was until the baby was delivered," Cody added. "Each one has been a surprise. We were convinced our third child was a girl again. And so it was a big, big surprise that it was a boy, and it just felt right."

"We're coming up on 10 years," he said of the anniversary of his brother's death, "and he was just such a big impact on my life, and I just thought that it'd be a special way to honor him."

And despite it being nearly a decade since Paul's passing, Cody — who stepped in to help complete "Furious 7" after his death — still sees signs from his brother.

"All the time, actually," he told E! News. "So, Paul's favorite number was 47, and my favorite number is four and eight. His was four and seven, so hence 47, and me 48. I'm always looking out for my number. I never find it. It's 47 everything."

"I was flying out here to New Jersey, I was on floor 47. The road to get off over here was like Highway 47," he shared. "Whenever I feel like stuff we're doing something like this, 47 will appear and it gives me tingles sometimes in my arm."

Since Paul's death, Cody has made it his mission to continue his brother's legacy, including leaving his job in Oregon to take over the reigns of the "She's All That" alum's nonprofit, Reach Out Worldwide.

"I got involved because I was a paramedic and I wanted to be involved as a volunteer. And then Paul passed, and then it was like, well, what's going to happen with this?" he recalled. "And so I left my career, came back down to California and picked up the baton, not knowing what the hell I was doing, and then just had the right team, surrounded myself with the right people. And we started creating different ways to create funding for the organization so it could continue."

And continue it has.

"Fast-forward, FuelFest, I wanted to create something that could be sustainable that can also generate some funding for Reach Out Worldwide," he explained. "So a portion of every FuelFest show goes to Reach Out Worldwide, and we're at almost $400,000 raised for Reach Out worldwide that we've donated. And it's all because of the people that you see here today. It's really amazing."

He added, "The people that don't know about Reach Out Worldwide and just know "Fast & The Furious," they learn about it at the shows too. It's beautiful. I'm just really proud of it. It's a piece of him he left behind, so it's really important to us."

The organization is also gearing up for FuelFest events in Las Vegas (Oct. 6-7) and Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 9.

—Reporting by Nikaline McCarley.