Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - November 10, 2005
Cynthia Laird, c.laird@ebar.com
Mr. Slocombe was a leader of the Every Penny Counts project from its founding in 1987 until his death. Despite advancing age and a long illness, he continued to volunteer at AEF every Thursday, counting coins collected from the penny jars. He was also the founder of the Pine Street Volunteers, a group of his neighbors from Nob Hill who hosted the annual Pine Street Yard Sale, raising more than $60,000 for AEF over the course of more than a dozen years.
"David was one of the most generous people I have ever known," AEF Executive Director Mike Smith said. "He was constantly planning and organizing fundraising events. Even this past summer, when his health was pretty bad, he got a booth at a street fair and collected porn tapes from the various shops that were converting to DVDs and sold the tapes for AEF. He came in the Monday after the fair, pulling an oxygen tank behind himself, with $1,000 and an idea for his next fundraiser. He was one of a kind. Everyone at AEF loved him and misses him already."
Mr. Slocombe was born on March 14, 1933 in Bristol, England, the youngest of four. He entered the Royal Air Force at age 18 and settled in Canada with several of his siblings when he was discharged at age 21. He immigrated to America in 1965 and took a job as a waiter at the World Trade Club in San Francisco, a position he held for 30 years until his retirement in 1995.
In 1987, he joined Pennies Project founder Fred Skau as a volunteer distributing penny jars to bars and stores and collecting the coins from establishments along Polk Street near his home. In 1989, he launched the first of the Pine Street fairs after collecting used household items in his basement over the course of a year and selling them for AEF at the street fair. For the next 16 years, his basement was an ever expanding and contracting treasure trove of sale items for AEF. After his retirement in 1995, he devoted nearly all his time to AEF fundraising efforts.
Mr. Slocombe was honored numerous times by AEF and other AIDS organizations. He was the recipient of AEF's Zachary Long Hall of Fame Award in 1995. He and the Pine Street Volunteers were honored as the Fred Skau Outstanding Volunteers of 2002 at AEF's 20th anniversary gala that year.
In celebration of his 71st birthday, Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaimed March 14, 2004 as David Slocombe Day in San Francisco. His most recent honor was being selected for the Academy of Friends' Kile Ozier Award in 2005.
Mr. Slocombe was predeceased by his partner of many years, Billy Macedo, who succumbed to AIDS in 1994. Mr. Slocombe is survived by his sister Pat Vincent and numerous nephews, nieces, great nephews and great nieces residing in Australia and England, as well as by a host of friends and fellow Pine Street Volunteers.
A celebration of life and memorial garden party will be held in the garden that he loved so much at his residence at 1174A Pine Street, San Francisco on Sunday, November 13 from 2 to 5 p.m. Generous even in his passing, Mr. Slocombe has requested that donations in his memory be made to AIDS Emergency Fund, 965 Mission Street, Suite 630, San Francisco, CA 94103.
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