Kim Leer Serkes' Obituary
Kim Leer Serkes (Joaquin Switch)
July 7, 1950 – July 21, 2013
Kim Serkes, known to many of his friends and acquaintances as Joaquin Switch, died suddenly and unexpectedly of natural causes on the evening of July 21 at his home in Berkeley, California. He had been in poor health for some time. Kim is survived by his partner Mary Lou Breslin, ex-wife Donna Odierna, closest friend Doris Hurd, brothers Scott and Dean Serkes, niece Jennifer, and nephew Matthew.
In 1967 Kim moved from Indiana to San Francisco, where he lived for many years; first in the Haight and later in North Beach. Friends called him Hobbit because he was short and furry and enjoyed life’s pleasures, great and small. He worked for several years at the Haight-Ashbury Switchboard and in counterculture radio. In later years he was an information technologist and free-lance photographer. He traveled extensively, dressed in the colors of the Brazilian flag during the World Cup soccer tournament, and worked for human rights and ecological justice in the Amazon Basin. He was an accomplished cook and an early user of computers and the internet. Logging in as , he was among the earliest denizens of the WELL virtual community, and he belonged to The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus. Rumors that he was a cook on a Satanic fishing boat are greatly exaggerated.
A memorial gathering will be held in Berkeley on Sunday, October 27, 2-4pm. For details and location please send email to [email protected]
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