A homeless man known to friends as “Wine” died Saturday after he inadvertently steered his bicycle into traffic.
Henry Ray, 73, was pedaling south on Main Street at about 9 a.m. when he veered left, according to Gainesville Police. Gail L. Kelly, 42, was driving behind Ray when he cut her off. Unable to stop the car in time, Kelly hit him.
Ray suffered severe head trauma, and paramedics drove him to Shands at UF. About six hours later, he died. The crash was still under investigation Monday afternoon, though Kelly probably won’t be charged, GPD spokeswoman Cpl. Angelina Valuri said.
Winston Gibson, 65, used to live with Ray at The 400, a high-rise for the elderly on Northwest First Avenue that is owned by the Gainesville Housing Authority.
Most didn’t know him as Henry Ray, though. Those at The 400 called him Wine. He loved to drink and smoke cigars, Gibson said.
Wine would talk to almost anybody about almost anything. He loved to lounge in The 400’s lobby or hold court at the nearby bus stop, telling anyone who would listen about the women he had been with, Gibson said.
“He would hang out, get a little bit tipsy and start talkin’ to everybody,” Gibson said.
Esaw Durant, 82, said he would worry when he watched Wine ride his bike.
“When you’re drinkin,’ now, don’t ride that bicycle,” Durant remembers telling his friend. “He was a grown man. He do what he wants, I guess. You’ll find people like that. He wasn’t no drunk, though.”
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
