CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (WSIL) -- An outreach group in southeast Missouri is remembering a man who died last weekend.
The Community Partnership of SEMO held a memorial Monday morning for 50-year old Samuel Smith. Workers say Smith was a bus driver in Columbus, Ohio before he became homeless but still maintained a positive attitude.
Friend Samantha Vance says Smith's positive attitude is what defined him and not his past.
"He was my only friend sometimes that I could talk to. He'd come to me, I'd have nobody here," Vance said. "He shows us that no matter what there's a reason to smile, to keep living, to keep life going."
Outreach worker Breita Church says Smith was walking for miles during intense heat on Saturday July 24. Temperatures in the city that day reached 91 degrees.
Church hopes Smith's death raises awareness to the problems facing the homeless, especially as a federal on evictions comes to an end.
