IMAGE: CNS photo/Christina Gray, Catholic San Francisco
By Christina Gray
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — Thomas
Myron Hooker lived the last 20 years of his life without a roof over his head,
but his death proved he was hardly without a home.
Hundreds of people — church
families, neighbors, shopkeepers and perhaps even strangers touched by the
cheerful kindness and generosity of the man who for years had made camp under a
tarp on a street corner in San Francisco’s Richmond District — streamed into
Star of the Sea Catholic Church Nov. 7 to express their respect and affection.
Hooker had endeared himself to
the parish and surrounding community with his gentle spirit. He spent a part of
each day praying in the back pews, said Star of the Sea pastor Father Joseph
Illo, who eulogized him as “a kind of patron saint of the homeless.”
“The meaning of being homeless
beyond shelter is when you lack a home, lack a family who understands you. You
are homeless when you don’t feel you belong anywhere,” said Father Illo. “Many
of us who live in more comfort are more homeless than Thomas was. He had a home
with us.”
Thomas had “overcome his
homelessness,” said Father Illo, who claimed Hooker’s body after his death Oct.
26 and planned the funeral Mass and reception that followed. McAvoy O’Hara &
Evergreen Mortuary donated a casket and prepared the body for burial. A special
collection was taken during the Mass so that Hooker might be laid to rest with
dignity and a headstone at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
According to a Richmond District
blog, Hooker was originally from Trinidad and had spent time in Chicago before
coming to San Francisco.
Every day, Hooker worked his way
along Clement Street with his shopping cart, and would stand at a corner near
Walgreens, usually talking to himself.
“This was a man who never asked
for anything,” Lea Grey Dimond, owner of Thidwick Books on Clement
Street, told Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper.
Hooker was one of three
individuals profiled in a documentary about mental illness called “Voices.” In the trailer for the
documentary, Hooker says with a huge grin: “I suffer a lot, you know, and when
you suffer, you must know to be kind.”
At a reception in the school gym
following the funeral Mass for him, the community took turns sharing memories
of Hooker and offering parting thoughts. “Voices” was shown afterward.
“Thomas had a gift for loving generously and
unconditionally,” said one speaker. “He brought our community something rare
and special.”
A man in tears said he was
overcome by the overflowing crowd who had come out to honor Hooker. The tears
turned to laughter when he confessed he often “gave my money to Thomas instead
of the church.”
Star of the Sea parishioners
Arnold and Jean Low had brought food to Hooker for more than 20 years and were
the ones to find him unresponsive on the morning of his death.
“Thomas was a kind and friendly soul, always
had a smile on his face, always had something complimentary to say to you,”
said Arnold Low. “There are other homeless souls for you to reach out to.
Also keep this in mind, he said:
“When I am thirsty, you gave me to drink, when I was hungry, you gave me to
eat, when I was cold you gave me clothes. Whatever you do for others, you do
for me your Lord our God.”
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Gray is on the staff of Catholic
San Francisco, newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
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