Ed Green, a homeless man (seen here in a photo taken last summer), had been a fixture of Denman Street prior to his death in December, and was well-liked by local residents and members of the business community.

Credit: Jackie Wong

NEWS: Community grieves passing of West End homeless man

A framed portrait of Ed Green currently stands in the window of a framing shop at the corner of Denman and Nelson streets. The recently deceased homeless man’s white hair and bespectacled blue eyes complement the Santa hat he wears for the photograph, taken two Christmases ago by the shop’s staff. Denman and Nelson was Green’s regular haunt: West End residents would see him in the area every day, making work for himself however he could, talking to neighbours, and sleeping on the Nelson Street side of the framing shop.

When a cold snap hit in early December, Green made plans to stay for a week at a backpacker’s hostel. As was his custom, he rang the bell at the back door of the framing shop and told its manager, Mary Marsolais, of his plans. “He had $25 on him,” she recalls. “He said, ‘If I can come up with another $20, I can get in to the [hostel] for one week.’ I gave him the 20 bucks. He was just borrowing it, which he’s always paid back in the past.”

Intent on helping Green get out of the cold, Marsolais suggested he go to a homeless shelter, but he refused, worrying that his belongings might be stolen. He was eager to stay at a hostel instead, where they would be safer.

“I never saw him after that,” says Marsolais, who, for four and a half years, paid Green to sweep the framing shop’s storefront. “That was my last conversation with him.”

A few days before Christmas, a woman who identified herself as a police officer’s wife visited the shop and told staff Green had died. The BC Coroner’s Office is conducting an investigation into Green’s death, but is currently unable to release further information. In the meantime, the shop’s staff has been overwhelmed with people coming to the store, asking about the homeless man who had been a fixture in the community.

“You should see how many people have stood by [his picture in] the window with tears in their eyes,” Marsolais says. “It’s pretty amazing that a street person could touch so many people.”

Green made a living by sweeping the storefronts of local businesses on Denman Street, and running a makeshift car wash on weekends. “He certainly worked his butt off; he wasn’t a lazy guy,” Marsolais says. She fondly remembers catching up on his news of the weekend during their regular Monday morning chats, and the look on his face when he’d surprise her at the shop with gifts. “He was constantly showering me with gifts. He actually bought me flowers,” she says. “If I’d go on holiday or something, and he knew I’d be coming back, he’d come to the door [with a bouquet]: ‘Welcome back.’”

Now, Marsolais says, Green’s spot on Denman feels empty. “When the doorbell rings, I kind of half-expect to see him, and he’s just not there.”

As a tribute to Green’s life, staff of various Denman Street businesses have been discussing the possibility of dedicating a Nelson Street bench in his name.

In an August 2008 interview with WE, at which time he claimed to be 70 years old (the coroner’s office has not confirmed his age), Green said he was ready to live out his final years on Denman. A recovering alcoholic and former Downtown Eastside resident, he said he had been living in the West End for seven years. Sitting in his regular spot at the corner of Denman and Nelson, he would say hello to neighbours walking by. “I know all these people, every single one of them,” he said proudly, “and they know I fight every day, just to live.

“I don’t want to be here — I have to be here,” he continued. “’Cause when my ticket’s up, only one person can pull the plug, and that’s not me. Until then, I’ll crawl, I’ll scrape, I’ll do what I have to. I can’t change the past, I can’t change the future, but I can always be the best I can.”