Homeless man was slain while going to work
Rene Stutzman
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 3, 2006
Ronald "Gumby" Klaas was on his way to work before dawn Sunday, headed for the bus station, when someone shot him in the head and leg, then escaped.
His body was found a short time later near the Bank of America building in downtown Orlando.
Friends described Klaas on Friday as a sweet man, homeless by choice, who lived in a local shelter, worked long hours in theme-park kitchens, and, once he got a paycheck, headed to a bar.
"Gumby liked his beer," friend William Hoak said.
"Bud draft," said Christine Conklin, manager at Jerry's Tap Room on South Orange Avenue.
He spent hours there and at Hoops, a bar on Amelia Street near Orange Avenue, Hoak said.
"I'd see him off and on for the last 15 years," Conklin said. "He was a really wonderful man. He didn't deserve to be shot."
Klaas, 51, was known as Gumby because he had several missing teeth, Hoak said. He had been a local fixture in Orlando for nearly 20 years and had amassed many friends.
He had worked out of a labor pool, assigned to kitchens at Walt Disney World, for a decade, Hoak said.
Klaas was walking to the Lynx bus terminal Sunday morning, headed for work, when he was slain, according to police.
Authorities say the man who killed him also robbed and wounded another man two blocks away that same morning, also before dawn.
Orlando police on Friday released a composite sketch of the man suspected of killing him. The suspect is about 17, stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 115 pounds, according to a police news release. He was riding a blue, child-sized bicycle.
The department asked anyone with information to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
Klaas' only surviving family member is an older sister in Quincy, Ill., where he was born and raised and had once worked as a plumber. His life there fell apart after his wife gave birth to a stillborn child, Hoak said.
His sister, Jacqueline Klaas, 69, said her brother left there in 1984, and she had no idea what had become of him until she learned this week that he had been slain in Orlando.
"We didn't know where he was for 22 years," she said.
Now, Klaas' remains will be headed back to his hometown.
"He will be cremated there in Florida; then he'll be sent back to Quincy for burial," his sister said.
Friends in Orlando were collecting money to pay those expenses.
Rene Stutzman
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 3, 2006
Ronald "Gumby" Klaas was on his way to work before dawn Sunday, headed for the bus station, when someone shot him in the head and leg, then escaped.
His body was found a short time later near the Bank of America building in downtown Orlando.
Friends described Klaas on Friday as a sweet man, homeless by choice, who lived in a local shelter, worked long hours in theme-park kitchens, and, once he got a paycheck, headed to a bar.
"Gumby liked his beer," friend William Hoak said.
"Bud draft," said Christine Conklin, manager at Jerry's Tap Room on South Orange Avenue.
He spent hours there and at Hoops, a bar on Amelia Street near Orange Avenue, Hoak said.
"I'd see him off and on for the last 15 years," Conklin said. "He was a really wonderful man. He didn't deserve to be shot."
Klaas, 51, was known as Gumby because he had several missing teeth, Hoak said. He had been a local fixture in Orlando for nearly 20 years and had amassed many friends.
He had worked out of a labor pool, assigned to kitchens at Walt Disney World, for a decade, Hoak said.
Klaas was walking to the Lynx bus terminal Sunday morning, headed for work, when he was slain, according to police.
Authorities say the man who killed him also robbed and wounded another man two blocks away that same morning, also before dawn.
Orlando police on Friday released a composite sketch of the man suspected of killing him. The suspect is about 17, stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 115 pounds, according to a police news release. He was riding a blue, child-sized bicycle.
The department asked anyone with information to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
Klaas' only surviving family member is an older sister in Quincy, Ill., where he was born and raised and had once worked as a plumber. His life there fell apart after his wife gave birth to a stillborn child, Hoak said.
His sister, Jacqueline Klaas, 69, said her brother left there in 1984, and she had no idea what had become of him until she learned this week that he had been slain in Orlando.
"We didn't know where he was for 22 years," she said.
Now, Klaas' remains will be headed back to his hometown.
"He will be cremated there in Florida; then he'll be sent back to Quincy for burial," his sister said.
Friends in Orlando were collecting money to pay those expenses.
