For the 24th year in a row the names of the homeless dead were read aloud on the steps of Denver’s City and County Building on Wednesday night.
“It’s a privilege to give voice to the men, women and children whose lives have ended too soon,” John Parvensky, president of Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, told the roughly 200 people who clutched candles. “For most, this will be the only service they receive.”
The Homeless Persons’ Memorial Vigil honored 155 transients who died in the seven-county metro area: 117 men and 38 women, as old as Beverly Fry, 74, and as young as 3-month-old Dreja’nae McHenry.
The coalition could not immediately provide Fry’s or McHenry’s cause of death. The average expectancy for Americans is 77.7 years, according to the Centers for Disease and Control.
But according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, the average for the homeless is less than 52 years.
This year metro transients died of exposure to the outdoor elements, violence, accidents, as well as drug and alcohol-related causes. Forty-three percent died from untreated illnesses, according to the coalition.
About 12,000 homeless people are treated each year at the coalition’s Stout Street Clinic, but Parvensky noted its state funding plunged 30 percent this year, even as its waiting list for mental health services had grown to more than 700 people,
As president of the board of the National Coalition for the Homeless, Parvensky said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was a national leader in efforts to fight homelessness.
Hickenlooper said that in the past four years, the city’s Road Home project has helped 2,200 families move off the streets and 3,300 homeless people find jobs.
At last year’s vigil, 164 names were called out, the most in the memorial’s history.
“We should be looking forward to a time in Denver when there’s not a need for a vigil such as this, when there are no names to read,” said Hickenlooper, who was the first among five local dignitaries to call names from the list of the dead.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
Remembering the deceased
The names of the homeless who died in the seven-county metro area in 2009 were read aloud at an annual vigil Wednesday night organized by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
Grover Anderson, age unknown
Tom Anderson, 46
Tina Applegate, 56
Bryan Armstrong, 53
Ronald Fred Atencio, 54
Judy Atkinson, age unknown
Marilyn Bakal, 72
Valerie Ballast, 25
Amy Banks, 39
Shane Barthel, 33
Thomas Beck, 40
William Bentz, 62
James Berry, 57
John “Elwood” Bienick, age unknown
Donna Blevins, 44
Michael Bochert, age unknown
Travis Bordelon, 34
Annette Boyle, 40
Joseph Bryant, 51
Mary Bueno, 51
Patricia Bush, 50
Geno Calabrese, 44
Joseph Calderon, 65
Roger Calhoun, 66
Mel Carpenter, age unknown
Tighe Chamberlain, 59
Carrie Chavez-Johnson, 48
Sandy Cowan, 48
Chantell Curry, 34
Danny Daily, 57
Jeff Davis, 42
Linn Decker, 46
Melissa Deeter, 46
Roberto Diaz DeLeon, 39
Mark Dorak, 40
Adam Earley, 20
Tina Edwards, 50
Amory Feltes, age unknown
Erick Bradley Ferguson, 38
Carrie Fillis, 49
Beverly Fry, 74
Paul Garcia, 37
Ronald Garcia, 46
John Gardner, 62
Alfonso George, age unknown
Nancy Gilmore, age unknown
Patrick Gleason, 28
Judith Goering, 56
Miguel Ruiz Gomez, 50
Tomas Gomez, age unknown
Alfonso Gonzalez, 23
Ryan Gosciejew, 28
Gustave Gourdin , 48
Bob Grau, 48
Dale Gustave, age unknown
Frederick Hammer, 52
Michael Hannon, 55
Kenneth Harlan, 56
Coraletta Harris, age unknown
Roger Harris, age unknown
Rene Hickey, age unknown
Carlos Higuera-Rubio, 72
Geoff Hitchcock, 57
Janet Hodgson, 52
Brandon Howse, 27
Ricky Lee Iko, 48
Herschel Johnson, age unknown
Richard Allen Johnson, 55
Russ Johnson, 55
Mark Keener, 51
Ryan Keith, 59
Jon Kemp, 41
Nick Kidwell, age unknown
Michael Klasen, 51
Steve Komives, 57
Christopher Kvien, 33
Michael Ray Lambert, 56
Reginal Lankster, 55
Sarah Lawler, age unknown
Suki Lay, age unknown
Gary Lee Lewis, 55
Dreja’nae McHenry, 3 months
Mary McKinney, age unknown
Matt Maez, 18
Daniel Marquez, age unknown
David Marquez, age unknown
Ranette Marquez, 56
Richard “Leslie” Martin, age unknown
Joe Martinez, 51
Jerome Massey, 57
Roger May, age unknown
William Means, 44
William Meeks, age unknown
Robert Miner, 68
David Moeller, 45
Ron Mondragon,51
Mark Murphey, age unknown
Ronnie Lee Neely, 48
Dennis Nelson, age unknown
David Nevill, 52
Grady Nicholson, 57
Stephanie Nickson, 41
Tracy Oppenheimer, age unknown
Manuel Pacheco, age unknown
Nathaniel Passarello, 26
Valerie “Allie” Perea, age unknown
Steve Pitman, 54
Mike Radtke, 46
Lisa Ragsdale, 47
Christopher Razze, 35
Melissa Rea, age unknown
Henry Renfrow, 40
Delayne Richard, age unknown
Johnny Rivera, age unknown
Lettimae Robertson, 52
Russell Robey, 60
Richard Rondeau, 53
Theodore Rueda, 30
Keith Ryan, 58
Reyes Salazar, age unknown
Armond Serracino, 45
Art Sena, 73
Marvin Shappart, 45
Daud Shah, 33
Robert Sheneman, Jr., 42
Matthew Shoop, 28
Logan Sisson, age unknown
Edward Smith, 61
Jake Smith, 41
Lee Smith, Jr., age unknown
Rickey Ray Smith, 54
Thomas Smith, 61
Andrew Sosis, 31
Michelle Sterud, 57
Daniel Stewart, 45
John Stone, 50
Henry Summers, 63
Kurt Swann, age unknown
Louise Taylor-Davis, 54
Kenneth Thigpen, age unknown
Curtis Thomas, age unknown
Joseph Torres, 47
Anthony Valdez, 60
Eddie Valdez, age unknown
Patrick Valdez, age unknown
Glen Vavarek, age unknown
Reggie Verge, 53
Silvia Vigil, 51
Lanny Waldon, age unknown
Jerry Wesland, 56
Dana White Calf, 34
David Wilson, 61
Gerald Wingerter, 53
Norman Wright, 46
King “Kennie” Yazzie, 69
Source: Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
