For a second in time, their names were on the lips of the mayor, as John Hickenlooper read off the names of the homeless who had died in Denver this past year.
“We will remember,” said the mayor and a chorus of of hundreds who came to pay their respects in the bitter wet and cold tonight on the steps of the City and County Building.
This year, 164 names were called out, the most in the memorial’s 22 years. The annual ceremony is organized by the Colorado Coalition of the Homeless.
“This weather is certainly fitting,” Hickenlooper said. “It’s cold. It’s damp. It’s heartless.”
Jon Whitehawk, who said he is homeless, agreed. His friend, Jerry Rosendale, hung himself in a public garage near East Colfax Avenue and Tamarac Street last February.
His friend was funny and bright and always there to help his “brothers,” Whitehawk said.
“Nobody deserves to die like that,” he said. “But when you live like we live, sometimes you just give up. It’s bad but maybe it’s better sometimes.”
Another name called out was Esperanza Pardue, the 27-year-old prostitute whose mutilated body was found stuffed in a barrel in a downtown Denver parking lot on Oct. 28. She died of a fractured skull, and the words “dragon,” “blood” and “I use this” were written on her body in black marker.
Ahmad Clewis-Green, 19, a man with a history of mental illness, confessed to the murder.
Pardue, a former Taco Bell manager, wound up on the street when she became addicted to crack, her family said.
“Life on the street takes a tremendous toll,” said John Parvensky, president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
The average life expectancy of Americans is almost 80 years, but the average life expectancy of the homeless is 52, he said.
A 38 percent spike in deaths of homeless people this year comes as the city of Denver pares 24 percent of its funding for programs, about $1.4 million, next year.
Hickenlooper touted the city’s past successes in the third year of his 10-year push to end homelessness in the city.
“Yet it all seems pretty thin when you’re reading a list like we’re reaching tonight,” the mayor said.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
