Joe Pelham was unpredictable, often out of touch with his family and bounced around for several years before he found the Catholic Worker House, where he worked and lived for 30 years.
“He found his home here,” said Sister Anna Koop, longtime staffer at the House at 2420 Welton St.
Pelham died July 3 when he lost control of his motorcycle shortly after 6 a.m. as he was returning from a night fishing trip to Boulder Reservoir.
Services for the 55-year-old will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the St. Francis Center, 2323 Curtis St.
Pelham was on the exit ramp from U.S. 36 to southbound Interstate 25 when he hit some sand, said his father, Harold Pelham of Centennial.
“His bike got away from him. He was thrown over the guard railing,” Pelham said.
Investigating authorities said neither drugs nor alcohol was involved.
Joe Pelham worked for nothing and, in fact, paid $100 a month rent, Koop said.
Over the years, Pelham did about everything: cooking, home repairs, plumbing, auto repairs, making sleeping bags for babies and even fixing backpacks.
He bought the Catholic Worker House a television, a refrigerator and a chain saw, the latter so he could cut wood for the fireplace.
“He was a little rough around the edges,” Koop said, “but his heart was what made him dear to us.”
“He touched so many lives,” said Shirley Whiteside, a volunteer for years.
When not at the Worker House, Pelham did construction work.
“He was always the fall-back person at the House,” said Bill Sulzman of Colorado Springs, a former priest and former Worker House volunteer. “He was a simple, good man, instinctively generous.”
Pelham loved to fish and often did so at night, his father said. He gave away much of the catch to a needy family down the street, or Worker House staffers and clients got trout dinners. The House usually has 12 to 15 guests a night.
Joseph A. Pelham was born in Denver on Nov. 25, 1954, and graduated from West High School. He was in the Air Force, returned to Denver and, for a while, lived at a downtown shelter, his father said.
He went to the Catholic Worker House soup kitchen as a client, joined the staff and lived at the soup kitchen until it closed and then moved to the Catholic Worker House next door.
In addition to his father, Pelham is survived by his sister, Linda Pelham of Westminster, and a brother, Timothy Dean Pelham of Grand Junction. Another sister, Pamela Ann Tolley, died of a heart attack in April.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
