Homeless folks rarely get eulogies. Here is one. -- (edited)
Posted by
Qale
Nov 15 '22, 07:56
|
A man who lived downtown under U.S. 59 was found dead in his tent Sunday morning of unknown causes. His neighbors remembered the man, whom they knew as Bob, as an introverted but occasionally chatty presence who loved playing games on his phone.
Bob generally left his tent first thing in the morning and only came back at night when it was time to sleep, spending his days instead at parks where he could charge his phone and connect to Wi-Fi, friends said. He loved playing the games Dig It and Real Racing 3, sometimes watching YouTube tutorials to learn the best way to tackle certain levels, said Alex Dehn, who once lived in the camp.
"Bob was nice to everybody," Dehn said.
Bob's last name and age were not known as of Tuesday morning, although the Harris County medical examiner confirmed a man died Sunday under the freeway.Bob had gray hair, cropped short, and a volunteer at a soup kitchen he frequented estimated he may have been in his 60s or 70s. The volunteer, Patricia Stephenson, said he'd been a regular for the past three years.
While Bob often kept to himself, when he sat down to talk, he could go on for hours about certain subjects, which included dissecting the cold case of JonBenét Ramsey, Dehn said. He was particular about his routine, staking out what he considered the best place to charge and often arriving at Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen more than two hours before opening in order to be first in line.
Stephenson, who regularly volunteers at Loaves and Fishes, confirmed Bob was always first in line when the soup kitchen opened. "He always had the biggest smile on his face," she said, adding that she'd never heard him say a negative word. "He was kind... He never complained."
Kenny Lindley's tent faces Bob's, and on Sunday morning, shortly after a cold front had sent temperatures plunging, a neighbor flagged him that something might be wrong. Lindley remembered seeing Bob's tent was open. He put his hand near Bob's skin and, feeling no warmth in the frigid air, knew that he had died. Another friend told the Houston Police Department, and Bob was declared dead at 8:25 a.m. Neighbors said there was no indication of foul play, and Lindley said as far as he knew Bob neither drank nor did drugs.
Lindley said that while he knew Bob would likely tell others to feel free to help themselves, it troubled him to see people go into Bob's tent to take his possessions. He felt shaken by Bob's death, but tried not to dwell on it. "This is just life on the street," he said.
The man whose tent sat directly beside Bob's, who goes by the name Robert Jackson, was also struck by Bob's sudden death. "It's still hard to believe he's gone."
|