PLEASE MEET RONNIE:
I'm beyond sad and very sorry to share that our goodGOOD friend Ronnie LaBranche has died.
I met Ronnie about 11 years ago, back when my architecture practice was along the canal in Fremont. Ronnie lived most of his life homeless. During the time I knew him he mostly camped out of a tent or every so often in a broken down RV.
Ronnie was a survivor. Even though he scared me a bit at first, we connected immediately. We were the same age and grew up probably a mile from each other, him in Ballard and myself on the north side of Queen Anne Hill. I wondered how many times we passed as young kids roaming neighborhoods on our bikes.
Ronnie shared openly about the struggles of growing up homeless. Most of his experiences would have dropped me to my knees. For him they were normal, including the craziness of being in gangs and all that came with that life.
I remember when he told me he had been shot early in his teens. He must have seen my eyes widen and said, "Do you wanna see the bullet hole?" He then lifted up his shirt and pointed to his belly button showing me where the bullet entered him, and then immediately turned around, dropped his pants and underwear, and pointed to his anus, saying, "This is where it came out!"
It took me a second to process, but then we both started to laugh, and kept laughing. That was Ronnie. He always had me guessing what was coming next. He was tough as nails, fearless, funny, loyal and, here's the part that you'd miss unless you got to know him, he had a beautiful sensitive caring heart. Despite his extremely difficult life, he was a really good man.
Early on in our friendship I remember a time he sat down in my office looking depressed. I asked what was going on. After a long silence he said, "I've not told you about my daughter. I still can't say her name without crying uncontrollably." He then shared that it was the year anniversary of her auto accident death. She was just 20 years old. I held Ronnie for a long time as his whole body shook from sobbing. It makes me tear up still just typing it now.
More often Ronnie was the one cheering others up. His kind heart and endless life energy looked out for those struggling. He brought countless young people to my office that had just fallen into homelessness, wanting to help them get connected and prepared for the struggle ahead.
Ronnie was perpetual motion. His survival on the street was a combination of smarts, ingenuity and simple hard work. For money he would scrap metal. Nothing was wasted or thrown away. Everything had multiple functions.
Ronnie also had a twinkle in his eye. He liked people. One of my favorite memories was when Diane Bell brought her daughter Karina, who was in the Girl Scouts, to my office with 53 boxes of girl-scout-cookies to handout to the homeless. Ronnie was there and immediately yelled out loud, "THOSE ARE MY FAVORITE COOKIES IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!" Karina, rather than shying away, leaned forward and handed him a box of thin mints! They became instant friends! Before Ronnie left he emptied out his bag and at the bottom pulled out a women's watch he had found on the street. He gave it to Karina. It was her first watch. The moment was priceless.
There are too many Ronnie memories to share. I'll post a few more with the pictures in the comments below.
I also want to let you know that Ronnie made it into housing a few months before he passed. I think the journey had just been too hard on him and once inside he could finally let go.
Rest In Peace Ronnie. THANK YOU for your dear friendship and all that you taught me. Your spirit is all BEAUTIFUL!
Ballard Neighborhood | Rex
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