About a dozen people, but no family members, attended a memorial service last Saturday morning for Raymond Denno, 43, a homeless man who died in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 20.

Sometimes death is not an unexpected event, but in his case it was sudden and unexpected. He had not been sick, only feeling a bit under the weather on Tuesday, prompting him to move his tent and sleeping bag nearer to a couple of special friends, Donnie and Francine, so he would have someone to call if things got worse during the night.

The three had been friends since last September when Raymond, who made his living panhandling at the corner of Mt. Moriah Road and U.S. 15-501, came to live in the woods along the road between Chapel Hill and Durham.

The Rev. Carolyn Schuldt, pastor and director of the Open Table ministry where Raymond worshipped and where he shared noonday meals on Wednesdays, said this week that the cause of death is still undetermined, but that members of the homeless colony said he had a sudden seizure.

"We have no reason to think he died from anything other than natural causes," she said.

According to Donnie, Raymond got up about 4:30 a.m., as if he were going to the bathroom. He turned around, but appeared to be unsure of where he was. At that point, he fell to the ground. Donnie called 911 and then called Pastor Schuldt, who got the call about 5 a.m. and drove to the woods.

"He was already dead when I got there and the area was crawling with emergency medical and law enforcement people," she said.

Seldom do homeless folks use their surname and often not their given name. Many of them have street names. Raymond was an exception. His friends called him simply "Ray" or "Raymond."

Had it not been that Schuldt was helping Raymond get a duplicate Social Security card, his last name would have been unknown.

About six months ago, he got beat up and robbed. He lost his Social Security card and had no form of identification. Schuldt took him to the Social Security office but without a photo ID, Social Security would not issue a duplicate.

"We were never able to get a duplicate card," Schuldt said.

Raymond wrote his twin brother, who lives in Michigan, and asked him to get a copy of his birth certificate. His brother mailed it to him and the letter had a return address. Schuldt still had that envelope so she was able to contact his brother about Raymond's death. Neither the twin brother nor any other members of his family, had the money to make the trip to North Carolina for the memorial service. His other survivors include two other brothers, one sister and three children. Both parents are dead.

His twin brother wanted Raymond's body sent home, but that was not possible either because of the cost involved, Schuldt said.

Pastor Schuldt recalled that every Wednesday during the prayer circle at the end of a gathering for lunch, Raymond would always make the same request: "Pray for the families we are separated from."

Raymond had an alcohol addiction that sent him to the street and into a day-to-day kind of survival mode. He worked the corner at 15-501 and Mt. Moriah Road panhandling. Drivers who regularly pass this way may remember the man with the short red hair and beard.

Raymond didn't leave much behind. His tent, his sleeping bag, his back pack, two T-shirts, and his sign: "Hungry and Homeless. God Bless. Thanks." His Tony the Tiger back pack with "Feeling Great" on the back was part of a memorial tribute at the Saturday service that Francine had put together using photos she made of Raymond with her cell phone.

The homeless colony continues in deep mourning this week, Schuldt said on Friday. They are haunted by memories of the red-headed fellow traveler with the great sense of humor, who enjoyed laughing and teasing. Some are having trouble sleeping as they recall their friend lying lifeless on the ground, the pastor said.

She recalled that on Easter Sunday she and Raymond were talking after the worship service about how good it would be to hold worship every Sunday afternoon.

Raymond said, "I'm glad we can worship out here. I can't go inside a church because I don't have a thing to wear."

Although his earthly home was a tent and his bed the ground, this homeless man did not die alone, as is often the case, but with friends who took time to get to know him and who cared about him.

His laughter and hearty spirit will be missed around the Open Table.

Open Table meets on Wednesdays at noon on the service road near New Hope Commons in front of a storage company. On occasional Sundays, they hold worship at the end of the service road on the broken concrete surrounded by weeds, brush and trees.

Pastor Schuldt is a recent graduate of a program in social service that is co-sponsored by Duke Divinity School and UNC-CH. Schuldt is paid through a grant from the Duke Endowment.

Volunteers who help this ministry include the Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship on Raleigh Road and a number of Durham United Methodist congregations, including three churches in the Rougemont Charge, New Bethel, Union Grove and Rougemont; as well as Resurrection, Duke's Chapel, and the Congregation at Duke Chapel. The ministry has also on occasions received anonymous gifts.

The pastor can be reached at 412-7011.

Please let us know what's going on in your church or faith group, so we can share your news with our readers. E-mail news and announcements to Flo Johnston at fjohnston3@nc.rr.com.