We Remember

The 128 people from the homeless community in Nashville who died in 2020.

Open Table Nashville, and several other local service organizations, maintain a spreadsheet of people who have died on the streets of Nashville throughout the year. In 2018 that spreadsheet had 119 names. In 2019 it had 101. So far in 2020 it has 128 names — the highest Nashville has ever seen. For more than a decade, members of the homeless community have gathered at Riverfront Park for the Annual Homeless Memorial where the names of everyone who has died are read aloud in an act of honoring and remembering the friends who have died in the last year.

This year, India Pungarcher, Master of Public Health Candidate at Vanderbilt University, and Vanderbilt Cornelius Professor Dr. MaryBeth Shinn, have expanded on the 2020 spreadsheet to conduct a community-engaged mortality study. The goal of the study is to better quantify the number of deaths occurring in Nashville among people experiencing or with a history of homelessness, understand causes of these deaths, create policy recommendations, and memorialize and humanize our friends, family, and loved ones who ultimately passed because they did not have housing or did not have it soon enough.

Below, you’ll find part of that study. We’ve listed the names of the 128 people that we know of who died in the homeless community this year. We’ve also included a short obituary collected in the study to honor the people behind the statistics. More information and photos from the study can be found online at https:// arcg.is/0qeSCe.

The website will be continually updated as we learn more information about the individuals listed and for anyone else who dies in 2020. If you have more information about anyone on this list, you can email india@opentablenashville. org and she will incorporate your memories.

Alvin “Dewayne” Anderson, 53 Avid NASCAR fan who loved to cook ribs.

Leopoldo J. Araujo, 65 Loving father.

Kobe Aschan, less than one month old. Precious child who brought great joy to his family in his short life.

Charlie “Eastside Charlie” Avinger Jr, 53. Rapper, cook, dancer and bingo player who earned his nickname after his appearance on the local radio show, 92Q Quiet Storm.

Terry David Barnes, 59

Terry Barnes

Michael Batey Sr, 43. Father of four who loved snack cakes and the Dallas Cowboys.

Anthony “Tank” Baugh, 52. Jokester who loved to laugh.

Sandra Beasenburg, 20

Steven Bevill, 36

Charles Bixler, 52

Chris “Black” Black. Friend of the Southside community who looked after others.

William Bradd, 63. Knew how to keep a conversation going.

Susan Braun, 65

Francisco Brown, 48

Jerry E Brown, 67. Veteran who found community in the RITI VA Program.

Maemae Brown, 45. Medical assistant and cheerleader who loved God and her family.

Mary Brown, 62. Loving, quiet woman known to the Downtown community for her long pigtails and love of fried chicken and Oreos. Randolph Brown, 59. Quick with a smile and kind word, loved by the Belmont student community.

Belinda Browning. Deeply loved her dog, Ava.

Lloyd Case, 60

Harry Childress, 55. Went to his high school prom with Little Miss Mississippi.

Jajuan Clark, 36. Full of energy.

Tieran Coleman, 23

Tony “Country” Collins, 40. Gentle soul and family man who loved animals and nature.

Joshua Corley, 29. Skateboarder and Titans fan who served with Bridge Street Ministries.

David Crabtree, 56

William Criswell, 64

Odell Crump, 67. Once made up, you couldn’t change his mind.

Ronald Dean, 65. Liked jazz, burgers, fries and fishing.

Joey Deliefde, 35. Fashion lover.

Anthony Dempsey, 55. Strong and caring man.

Jack Dempsey, 52

Karen Dickerson, 46

Rodney Elam, 61

Donald Elliot, 65. Patient and forgiving friend.

Gregory Ellis, 71. Professional trumpet player.

Lisa Fairley, 46. Always had a smile on her face.

Richard “Rick” Faust, 58. Contractor and business owner who loved his dog Little Bit, whom he called his cat. Jason Felts, 38. Hard-working, always volunteering Titans fan who loved 90’s alternative music.

April Ferguson, 40. Loving mother and storyteller who loved music and always brought people together.

Leroy John Finney, 58

Jessie Foster. Poet from Texas who channeled her experiences and feelings into poetry that changed the way others look at the world.

Joe “Krowe” Fugate, 30. Technical genius who traveled the country by freight train.

Vernon “Vern” Gaddis, 69. Truck driver, professional musician, and bookworm who read several books a week, knew how to waltz, and knew the words to every country song written before 1990.

Nathanial Gass, 71

Joe Greenwood, 61. Natural entertainer who revered his career as Mr. Jingles the clown, loved to volunteer, and could build or fix anything; even fierce dogs ended up in his lap.

Julio Danilo Garcia Gutierrez, 52. Loved salsa music and dancing.

Lisa Hagerty, 51. Avid reader with a bachelor’s degree in legal studies and a dream of going to graduate school.

Daniel Hall. Talented artist who made metal sculptures.

Michael “Blind Mike” Hargrove, 57. Wanted everyone to know that Cobra Beer was his favorite.

James Hart, 51. Loyal friend who loved to watch cooking shows.

Ronald Harvey, 62

David Hendricks, 62

Joshua Hendrix

Anthony Herring, 56. Poet who always liked to be in the mix and talked to anyone who would listen.

John Hockaday, 48

Jessica Hoffman

Johnny Holley

Steve “Sandman” Hopper. Father and advocate who risked arrest by standing with the residents of Fort Negley when the city shut the camp down in 2016.

Octavis Horne, 46

EJ Jenkins

Michael Jenkins, 66

Robert “Bobby” Jenkins, 53. Gracious giver and amazing paw-paw who inspired his former highschool classmates to raise thousands of dollars for others experiencing homelessness.

Mark A Johnson, 45

Shirley Johnson, 53. Always went the extra mile for others, opened doors with a smile, and was working to open her own nonprofit.

David Kelso, 62. Proud veteran who was active in his community.

Edward E Kendall, 61. Veteran who was known as “Too Tall” because of his height.

Audie “Snake” Matthews, 63. Dressed to the nines, never just walked into a room (he strolled), and if he liked you, he would call you “Dahhhh Lin.”

Jessica LaBraney, 31

Maldon Lane, 58

Jeffrey McClure, 63. An outreach worker recalls that Jeff loved his wife, Rocky, more than she has ever seen a person love another human being.

David McBee

Rodney McCoy, 55. Talented barber who also ran his own moving company.

Rafael McKissack, 59

James Mercer, 22. Emotionally-intelligent, sensitive soul who literally gave the clothes off his back to others and always hustled to help his friends out.

Jerry Wayne Moore, 72. Soft-spoken friend of the Eastside outreach community.

Ciprano Moreno

Edward Lee “Eddie” Mosley Jr, 53. Truck-driver who enjoyed Rock & Roll music and PeeWee’s Burgers.

Johnathan Newman, 34

Lawrence “Preacher Man” Oinas, 55. Faith-filled and always singing.

Kendall Ostine, 20. Young, bright rapper that had a contagious laugh, loved music, and recognized himself as the “Young King” that he will forever be.

Lisa Parker, 50

Laurie Ann Parish, 47

Earl Peaks, 63. Outstanding guitarist who played at church in his later years.

Debra “Deb” Pemberton, 59. Carried her mother’s silverware wherever she went to remember her hero.

Nina “Freedom” Pemberton, 28. Feisty yet selfless individual who ended every conversation with “love you.”

Tracey Podany, 46

Robert Preston III, 41

Alicia Pride, 48

Pauline Rader, 57

Wesley “Wes” Raney, 47

William Rennie, 73

Stanley Reynolds, 63. Always looked out for others no matter what he was going through.

Roger Rice, 54. Fierce friend and master of wit whose tagline was “thank you for your support.”

Andrew “Andy” Rohrbach,60

Scott Segal

Christopher Seward, 61. Loved to share corny jokes with anyone he met.

Jack Shewmaker, 69

Ontario Simpson, 42

Jory Singleton, 41

Kenneth Sisco, 55

Tim Smith

William “Dewayne” Smith, 48

Sandra Snider, 51

Bruce Steiner, 60. Loved fly fishing and fly tying.

Corey James Tedlock, 28. Guitarist who loved metal music.

William Thomas, 59. Writer, artist, and hiker who wanted to travel to Australia.

Tod Thomen, 49. Man who loved his children and took pride in his space.

James Thompson, 70

Sandy Tormey, 48. Father and grandfather remembered for his strong faith, constant pleasantness, and deep appreciation of life.

Sherry Treadway, 49. Collector of purses with a sweet but sassy sense of humor and desire to help others.

Jessie Upchurch, 64. Stubborn, hard-headed, yet soft-hearted, loyal storyteller who liked to go by “Jessie James.”

Lora Veach, 33. Dreamer who loved life and adored her children.

Alexander “Verge” Verge, 48. Motorcycle enthusiast who loved Black Biker Week in Myrtle Beach.

Clarence Vigne, 65. Proud Louisiana native with a good laugh and a twinkle in his eyes.

Eric Walker, 54

Dwayne Wallace, 49. Gentle giant who always had a kind word for everyone and a positive attitude.

Frank Webster, 66. Man with a sweet tooth and endless jokes.

Brian Weekley, 58. Gentle man who enjoyed people-watching and taking care of his friends.

Robert “Happy” Whelchel, 55. Sensitive and deep-thinking poet who always made others laugh.

Aaron Wilkerson, 51

Millard Wilson, 74

Woodrow Wilson Jr, 64

James Woodard, 74

Carolyn

Lonnie