Walkers on the Greenbelt found Thomas Heinbuch’s body lying beneath a picnic table near Ann Morrison Park on Aug. 10.

The coroner determined he died of natural causes — heart trouble. News reports described Heinbuch, who had been staying at the Interfaith Sanctuary for two years, as a “transient.”

Nothing could be further from the truth, according to people who knew him. To them, he was someone with a wicked sense of word play who could sling an insult in a way that made people laugh, not get angry. He had bad luck with what his friend David Wright calls “bike gremlins,” and had an uncanny ability to get flat tires.

Heinbuch was a regular fixture in the shelter’s laundry room. He volunteered to wash sheets and towels for the residents there.

The laundry room, quiet compared to the clamor of the shelter, where 190 men, women and children typically spend the night, was Heinbuch’s “escape from the rest of the world,” Wright said.

“He liked to sit in there and read, even after the laundry was done.”

Heinbuch died without leaving pictures of himself behind except for a driver’s license, which is now lost. Wright described him: “He was a tall man, wore wire-frame glasses. He had a long nose, not quite hawkish or aquiline, but long, and salt and pepper hair.”

The place by the river where Heinbuch died was another of his favorite spots to sit.

“It was safe. He could hear the river and watch the traffic from there,” said Wright, who has lived at Sanctuary since 2008.

He said he saw Heinbuch lying by the river the night he died, his books stacked beside him. It still bothers Wright that he passed by, assuming his friend was only sleeping.

Heinbuch was homeless, but he’d been a Boisean for 20 years. He worked at TableRock Brewpub and Crane Creek Country Club before he fell on hard times, said Jayne Sorrels, Sanctuary director. He lost his job, and a heart condition made it hard for him to find another one, she said. He had a pacemaker implanted in his chest last year.

Wright said Heinbuch was a gifted cook. One Sanctuary board member remembers baking a ham for a Sunday Friendship Feast at First United Methodist Church. Heinbuch asked for the ham bones, and transformed them into a delicious soup the next day with other salvaged ingredients, said Elinor Chehey.

Heinbuch had an ex-wife and two children. Like many in the shelter community, details of his life were hazy. Even his age was unclear. Police reports and some court records say he was 44. Wright and other court records say Heinbuch was 51.

What is clear, is that he made strong connections in his community, and that people miss him.

More than 150 people attended his recent memorial service in the Sanctuary parking lot.

Sorrels happened to get the news about Heinbuch’s death as she was going through a box of items, photographs, a rosary, a stone with an etched cross, letters, and cards, some left behind by shelter residents who have died.

She came across a Christmas card signed by residents, including Heinbuch, back in 2008.

He wrote “You are one of the bright spots in my newest adventure. Thanks. Thomas Heinbuch.”

Sorrels got the call from the coroner, informing her of Heinbuch’s death, 10 minutes after she read the card.

In Remembrance is a weekly profile on a Treasure Valley resident who has recently passed away. To recommend a friend or loved one for an In Remembrance, email newsroom@idahostatesman.com.