BOISE, Idaho — One would be hard-pressed to find complete strangers lining up to a memorial service for a man they've never met.
Though, Paul Gilbert is a familiar face at best. But more likely, he’s a forgettable panhandler. He's been homeless for 15 years, according to his sister Jodene Gilbert.
"It doesn't change the fact I loved him," Jodene said. "The biggest problem is we tried to fix him, and he did not want to be fixed."
Paul's memorial service - hosted by Interfaith Sanctuary on Feb.22 - featured Jodene, Paul's son Wesley Gilbert, miscellaneous community members, and veteran groups who never met him.
"I did not want this veteran to go alone," one man said.
The open invitation to Paul’s memorial service gained traction through Interfaith’s 'Word on the Street' newspaper. Paul's reputation in the paper preceded him by an old story detailing his life and complexity.
"He drinks too much, and he knows he does. He doesn't suffer people nagging at him to stop," the June 2023 publication wrote. "He doesn't want your sympathy, fake niceties or pretend concern, he just wants to get through another day."
Gerri Graves wrote the story; she met Paul serving coffee to people experiencing homelessness. She'd volunteered before, but this time it was different.
Graves had just lost her home in the Boise Northend.
"I had nowhere to go. I had no savings," Graves said. "I was like a deer in headlights."
Paul protected Graves in the new world she was afraid to enter on the heels of medical issues and relationship troubles. He was tough and manly. Gerri is reserved and parsed. He was a Vietnam veteran. Gerri let him know she would have protested the war if she was a generation older.
Oil and water had never been closer friends.
"Real heroes live among us but we don’t see them anymore. We don’t recognize them. We don’t seek them out," Gerri wrote. "Sitting in his walker on a street corner near the liquor store. Disheveled. Abrasive. Gruff. Sparkling blue eyes. Holding a sign, asking for spare change."
He passed away on January 24, 2024.
"To know he was cared for, loved, and missed and went peacefully, it means the world to me," Wes said at the memorial service. "To be honest, I thought he was gonna go alone."
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