Andrew Joseph Bakies, known affectionately to many Palisadians as ‘Smoking Joe,’ passed away at UCLA Hospital, succumbing to injuries sustained during a car accident on Pacific Coast Highway on May 2 (‘Two Pedestrians Struck on PCH; One Is a Fatality,’ May 13). He was 76. A Korean War veteran, Joe was a talented man who worked in an iron foundry, as a roofer, a caddy’and a boxer: hence the nickname ‘Smoking Joe.’ He also had an artistic flair as a master calligrapher, artist and topiarist. In 1985 Joe left his native Ohio and headed to Los Angeles,’his final destination being Temescal Canyon, where he made his home’of 25 years.’ He could always be seen pushing his bike around the Palisades as he went about his daily chores’visiting the library and the supermakets. Joe was a lover of animals and would always feed any stray animal that crossed his path.’He was also generous’to his homeless friends who needed a helping hand. Joe was without a doubt a man of great humor and a terrific raconteur.’He was an avid reader of nonfiction and’enjoyed reciting Shakespeare and poetry and could’address any subject’of interest. As Joe once jokingly commented, ‘My dear, I am not homeless, I am merely a man without a home.’ Joe, with his beautiful blue eyes, will be greatly missed by his many friends and acquaintances. A celebration of his life will be held in Temescal Canyon at a later date.’For’further information please contact (310) 459-6289 or’gn4abtn@gmail.com.’
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