Homeless Deaths Remembered in Annual Ceremony

Memorial service pays tribute to those who died homeless

by Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel

Marcia Lazzati lived in the woods near Sanford before losing her battle to a cancer discovered too late. Seventy-year-old Luis Ramirez died alone in his car in a Walmart parking lot, where he had spent the final six months of his life. Barbara Duvall and George Lee were struck and killed just trying to cross the street.

And Jennifer Owens, who looked to be only 30 years old, was found dead in her tent in the woods last New Year's Day, probably from untreated diabetes.

On Tuesday, their names were among the three dozen read at a memorial service for homeless individuals who died this year in Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties. Two of them were known only by first names — "Tim from Osceola" and "John aka Hobo" — and the personal details of many of the rest were vague.

"In many cases, sadly, this is the only remembrance of their lives that they will have," said Cathy Jackson, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, which has coordinated the annual memorial at First Presbyterian Church of Orlando since 2006.

Each year near the first day of winter, some 125 cities across the nation pay tribute to the thousands of homeless people who died during the preceding 12 months, many of them ultimately buried anonymously. In downtown Orlando, the service drew about 75 mourners, most of them workers and volunteers for the social-service agencies that try to help the homeless.

"The longest night of the year is symbolic to us," Jackson said. "It represents the long nights the unsheltered homeless individuals have been sleeping in cars, under bridges and in doorways because they have no homes."

*To read the rest of this article, please click on this urlink.