Man Dies in Castro Street

A gay San Francisco man who died suddenly Friday on a street in the city's Castro neighborhood is being remembered as a "sweet" man who was active in his church.

Thomas Smallwood, 75, was walking to a bar with his boyfriend Friday when he said he wasn't feeling well, Tyler Smallwood, one of Smallwood's sons, said in an interview this week. The couple was returning to their car when he collapsed in the street.

Tyler Smallwood, 36, who lives in Tempe, Arizona, said the family didn't yet have much information on what may have happened. The medical examiner's office isn't likely to release the cause and manner of death for several months.

Joseph Roldan, 24, who works at Simply Brilliant Press, at 2336 Market Street, near where Smallwood collapsed, said that at about 11:30 a.m. Friday, he saw Smallwood and another man walking near the Market Street median.

"I saw him take a step over the island" and fall, Roldan said. The other man brought Smallwood across the street, and a woman started giving him CPR. Responding paramedics worked in shifts for about half an hour in an unsuccessful attempt to revive Smallwood, according to Roldan and others in the area.

Smallwood had lived in San Francisco for more than 20 years and "loved San Francisco his whole life," Tyler Smallwood said. When his father was in his 20s, he had even owned a restaurant in the city.

The elder Smallwood, who was born in Indiana and attended Indiana University, came out as gay and he and his wife divorced about 25 years ago.

As a gay man, San Francisco "was a great place for him," Tyler Smallwood said, describing Indiana as "not a nice place for gay people at all."

He said Smallwood had retired "a couple years ago" after working as a real estate agent for a prominent lawyer. He last spoke with his father around the time the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship in June.

"He was really proud of that," he said. His father also always called whenever the Arizona Cardinals football team got beat by the San Francisco 49ers, he said.

Smallwood liked to socialize in the Castro and was an active member of First Congregational Church of San Francisco, where he was the treasurer and a steering committee member.

The Reverend David Cowell, 52, of San Francisco, said Smallwood "was just a dear, just a sweet man who basically touched people's lives in a positive way wherever he went."

Smallwood was "very integral" to the church family, Cowell said.

He was "very much a supportive, loving person who showed up when he said he would show up and was always a positive force," he said. Smallwood was also "a very good friend of mine," Cowell said, and his death is "a huge personal loss."

Smallwood's health "had been up and down over the last month or so," Cowell said. "A few weeks ago he was not well," but he'd recently said "he was feeling a little bit better, and he seemed to be on the mend." Cowell didn't know exactly what Smallwood's health problems had been.

He said Smallwood and his boyfriend, who the Bay Area Reporter wasn't able to reach, "had a lot of friends out in the community."

One of the things Cowell admired about Smallwood was his relaxed demeanor.

"I can be a very serious person," he said, and Smallwood "reminded me I need to have fun."

In a follow-up email, Cowell said, "he always signed off his letters and emails with one word: 'JOY.' That was who he was, [and] how I will always remember him."

John Alex Lowell, 44, of San Francisco, knew Smallwood through First Congregational.

"He was very endearing, and very engaged" with the church and its community, Lowell said. Many at the church, including Lowell and Cowell, are gay. Smallwood regularly attended the church's monthly Rainbow social gatherings.

Thomas McDonald, 49, who lives in San Francisco and chairs First Congregational's steering committee, said Smallwood's death is "a shock to all of us at the church."

"He was very passionate about what he did in the church," McDonald, who's gay, said. Smallwood "took care of [the treasury] and saw to it that everything was in order."

He said that Smallwood had probably been on his way to Twin Peaks or the Mix when he died. Both bars are close to where he collapsed.

A memorial service is set for 1 p.m., Saturday, August 22 at First Congregational, 1300 Polk Street. There will be a reception with light refreshments after the service.