As Homeowners Move On, Fire Moves In

But the 1400 block of Jane Avenue hangs on. There are four or five empty or abandoned homes. Others, though, are carefully tended, lawns mowed and siding painted. The block is battered, but not yet beaten.

Maybe that's why Gordon Yoesting found it to his liking.

Yoesting, too, was born to the neighborhood and raised the son of an autoworker. He arrived at 46 a survivor.

He could barely see and walked with a shuffle, at least partly the toll of a beating more than 20 years ago by men who subsequently ran him over with a pickup truck.

Still, Yoesting — Gordy to all who knew him — got by. He roamed the East Side, often shirtless, suspenders strapped across a tattooed back. He mowed lawns for cash, mopped up at The Hideaway and cashed his disability checks. Most of what he didn't spend on rent or child support went for beer and vodka.

Yoesting was widely liked, a neighborhood fixture. If you needed furniture or boxes moved, he was quick to volunteer. When neighbor Dakory Cooper's daughter had her bike stolen, he made her one from scavenged parts. He liked nothing better than trading stories and drink.