Daywatch: A tribute to Chicago’s ‘Walking Man’

Joseph Kromelis walks through the intersection of Dearborn and Randolph streets on Oct. 10, 2019, in Chicago. The homeless Kromelis died on Dec. 11, 2022, almost seven months after he was set on fire by a man while sleeping at a parking garage exit on Lower North Wabash Avenue.

Chicago’s Walking Man wandered alone for decades. Loved ones say: ‘He observed everything. That was his adventure.’ For decades, Joseph Kromelis walked along Chicago’s downtown streets and bridges seemingly all day, every day, regardless of the season. Tall and lean, with a bushy mustache and thick hair, the sharply dressed Kromelis stood out in the crowd. The urbane stranger’s striking appearance captured the imagination of his fellow pedestrians and Loop workers, many of whom dubbed him “The Walking Man.”

Kromelis, who experienced homelessness in his later years, died Dec. 11, 2022, nearly seven months after an assailant lit him on fire as he slept beneath blankets on the street. He was 75.through public records and more than two dozen interviews offers the fullest portrait to date of a private, gentle soul who felt most at home while walking among strangers.

From left, Marianyelis Arable Faneite Pena, Racnia Del Carmen Leon Mendoza, and Hildemaro Rafael Pena Gonzalez, all of Venezuela, sit on a bench in Margaret Hie Ding Lin Park Thursday, June 8, 2023 in Chicago.Across the street from the 1st District police station, Hildemaro Rafael Peña Gonzalez, 23, from Venezuela, fed cereal out of a plastic takeout container to his pregnant wife Racnia del Carmen León Mendoza, 19, and rubbed her swollen belly.

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