Histories of Anchorage: Much of the city grieved at the news of the ever-smiling panhandler’s sudden death in 2004.
Floyd Kaleak waves to commuters on West Northern Lights during his phase as unofficial greeter on Anchorage streets on July 10, 1987. on local history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.
By the time he arrived in Anchorage, after a stint at an Austin, Texas, school, he could function well enough day to day. Communication remained an issue. As he put it, he had learned “some words but not all of them.” When someone talked to him, he sometimes placed his ear close to their mouth. He was not hard of hearing, only intent on capturing the message. Repetition was the key to getting through to him.
Kaleak never quite understood the problem. When the cops stopped him panhandling in front of a grocery store, he moved down the block. When the cops returned, he moved to another street.Signs were another part of his roadside performance. They were sheets of paper or cardboard or wood worn around his neck. One of the first said, “SAY HI TO FLOYD.” As the panhandling progressed, he made a new sign: “PAY FLOYD.” This version, the cops told him, was unacceptable. So he made a new sign: “UP TO YOU.
He did have a dark side. Frustration, often from failure to understand or be understood, sometimes made him lash out. His record included arrests for trespassing, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and assault. He knocked over a salad bar at a restaurant and sometimes punched fellow facility residents. But most people understood him and his situation.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that much of the city grieved at the news. His death made the front page of the Daily News. Mournful letters poured into the newspaper. At their next meeting, the Anchorage Assembly passed a resolution, AR 2004-99, honoring Kaleak. It stated, “Floyd considered making others happy to be his full-time job” and “the streets of Anchorage will be less bright and friendly in his absence.
“I remember the first time I saw him. My family had just moved to Anchorage, and our first Christmas Eve here, my dad packed my brothers and sister in the car for a ride. We asked him where we were going. He replied we have to drive and wave Merry Christmas to someone very special. ... There he was waving and smiling with a BIG sign ‘Merry Christmas.’ That’s when I learned how easy it was to make someone happy, just by waving.”In a way, Floyd was a living lesson on how to approach life.
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