Street-side memorial marks passing of well-known homeless Bend man

Neighbor, friend share thoughts; public memorial being arranged

(Update: Man who'd gotten to know Hampton shares comments, photo)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Last week, a homeless man who befriended and was well-remembered by several northeast Bend residents died.

Roy Hampton had lived near the corner of Donegon Road and Watt Way, near the Cedarwest Apartments.

The spot where Hampton had pitched his tent has turned into an impromptu memorial, with flowers and a friendly handwritten note for Hampton, witten by someone who drove by every day and wondered, for example, how he handled the extremes of weather.  

Hampton wasn’t regarded as a nuisance, and he wasn’t your typical homeless person, either, according to Deborah Nichols.

"Over the years, every day I'd drive home, and he would wave, and I would wave back,” Nichols said Tuesday. “I would stop and see if he had any needs, and if he did, I would bring them back to him the next day, when I got off work."

Nichols, who works with Central Oregon Veterans Outreach and lives at the Cedarwest Apartments, said Hampton had lived in that spot for at least the last couple of years. and that over the years some neighbors and COVO as well had provided what help they could.

"This is a very lonely life that you live, living on the streets,” Nichols said. “And to think, they are not connected with family or with different groups or organizations and involved in the community. It's just hard."

When officials fail to find a next of kin, the body is sent to a local funeral home. Hampton’s body was brought to Deschutes Memorial Chapel & Gardens.

Funeral homes really only have one option when they receive a body in these type of situations, said Kevin Korn, a representative of Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home.

That’s because there are no body donation programs in Oregon that accept "indigent bodies" -- those with no next of kin. Funeral homes may then cremate the body.

"Usually, it's about a 10-day period if they don't locate family, where we can turn to our local vital records or health department," Korn said. "The registrar would give us the authority to go ahead with cremation."

Korn added that some funeral homes may hold onto ashes, just in case a family member ever does learn of the passing and come for them. Korn said his funeral home is holding 30 to 40 unclaimed sets of ashes at present.

People who knew Hampton have said on the "I Love Bend OR Community" Facebook page they they are planning to arrange a public memorial for Hampton.

NewsChannel 21's report brought an email Tuesday night from Sunriver-area resident Richard Asadoorian, who shared a photo of Hampton's green tent with his wheelchair in front and an American flag Asadoorian placed on it.

Asadoorian wrote, "Over the past eight months, I would stop by and deliver hot potato soup (his favorite), batteries for his flashlight, Pepsi, propane for his heater, etc. He always offered to pay me, but it was something that I felt good doing."

"We had little conversation, as he had a low voice and coming from his tent I had a hard time with my hearing aid. He was always laying down and the inside of the tent was piled with rubble."

Asadoorian said he last saw Hampton around Feb. 27, "in his chair at the corner where he lived. He waved and smiled."

Last Thursday, Asadoorian said, "As I was going to take him some things, I was shocked to see everything gone. I was told by a neighbor that he had had a stroke and passed."

"On the day that I discovered his absence and learned of his death, I placed an American flag alongside the flowers and sang the National Anthem," Asadoorian said.