A Lonely Death Behind a Berkeley Dumpster

The final human contact Gilbert Estrada had late in the night that he died was an act of compassion

by Maureen Hartmann

This memorial marks the final resting place of Gilbert Estrada, a homeless man who died while sleeping behind a dumpster in Berkeley.

Gilbert Estrada, a homeless resident of Berkeley, was found dead on Monday, October 23, lying behind a dumpster, on flattened cardboard boxes serving as a "mattress" against the gravel. He died while sleeping outside of Canterbury House, a residence for University of California students involved in community service under the direction of Episcopal Reverend Gary Brower.

These facts were shared with me at a meeting of Canterbury House residents on the day after Estrada's death. The sadness of his untimely death was somewhat leavened when I heard the story of the intervention of two of the house residents, Matt Werner and Christina Hisel.

Matt had heard Gilbert Estrada coughing badly up until past midnight on the morning he passed away. Gilbert's "bed" was just outside of Matt's room at the house. He went outside to offer him a cup of hot tea or anything to stop the cough. Gilbert declined the tea and said that he was just fine. Matt then returned back inside. Christina also went out to check on Gilbert that cold night, again to no avail.

It was noticed later that morning that Gilbert had not risen at his usual waking time of 7 or 8 a.m. Matt called his co-worker, J. C. Orton of the Catholic Worker, at about 3 p.m. to let him know that Gilbert had not made it through the night. J. C. had known Gilbert from the shelter run by the Catholic Worker, as well as the meals they served to their neighbors on the street.

When J. C. arrived at Canterbury House, he posted a placard commemorating Gilbert's death. It said, "Gilbert Estrada passed from this world behind this dumpster (his home) October 23rd, 2006. (May he rest with the angels.)"

Many of our brothers and sisters on the street die alone and are forgotten. This small memorial would perhaps allow Gilbert to be remembered, if only for a short time. J. C. Orton noted that the final human contact Gilbert had late that night was an act of compassion, and that the transition from where he was to where he is (with the angels) was made just a little bit easier due to this fact.

During the day of October 23, Reverend Brower and a friend had visited Gilbert's "home" and realized Gilbert wasn't responding. They called the police. The coroner and the fire department paramedics came with the police that afternoon. Reverend Brower noted that the paramedic reassured him that, even if he had called around 9:15 a.m., it would not have made any difference. That was when Reverend Brower arrived at work, found him apparently sleeping, and chose not to wake him up. He had been dead many hours.

Much of Gilbert's life, as well as his death, is a mystery. Multiple sources couldn't give any information on his life before he was homeless, or how he became homeless. What is known about the last three or four years of his life is that his "home," except for rainy nights, was in the same place he died.

Rev. Brower said, "We became acquainted with Gilbert three or four years ago when he started sleeping on our property. Prior to that we don't know anything."

While he was living there, Gilbert used to let the Canterbury House residents know if there were any strange cars (other than those of the residents) in the parking lot. The pavement of the parking lot is between his gravelly place and the Trinity Church Hall where Dorothy Day House serves three breakfasts and the Berkeley Food and Housing Project serves dinner and bills the diners a quarter, if they have it. Gilbert must have had some kind of income on which to survive, because, according to J. C. Orton, he rarely came to free meals.

Little is known about Gilbert. He was a white male, born in 1951. Matt Werner described Gilbert's appearance: "He wasn't overweight, but he wasn't super skinny either. He was heavy-set. He was 5'10" maybe. His head was balding. He had white and gray hair. The striking thing about him: He always wore the same aquamarine top and jeans. He had swirls tattooed on his hands like a sailor. They weren't the kind you'd get in a tattoo parlor, but from ink inserted by himself under the skin."

Life is so cheap these days. An example is the more than 650,000 Iraqis killed in Bush's war against terror. We who neglected Gilbert Estrada participate in making precious life superfluous. But perhaps we can take some steps to change things.

A memorial service for Gilbert Estrada was held at St. Mary Magdalen Church at 2005 Berryman, at 2 p.m., Sunday, November 5.

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