That man was George Garbarino, dubbed the "unofficial mayor of Willow Glen" and longtime resident of San Jose.

But the sight is now just a memory—Garbarino died Dec. 5, less than a week away from his 92nd birthday.

According to Judy Semas, his adopted daughter, Garbarino had been suffering from several ailments, including diabetes, a heart attack and pneumonia. He was released from the hospital Nov. 29 and died at Skyline Healthcare Center, where he had lived since the summer of 2002.

"He was a joy," said Judy Jackson, a neighbor of Garbarino's on Willow Street for more than three decades. "He'd talk to anybody, invite them into the yard, offer them some lemons and oranges. He didn't know a stranger."

Semas said Garbarino was extremely outgoing and gregarious. "He would be in his electric cart, cruising the downtown," she said. "Even if he stayed at home, he would park himself on the sidewalk and talk to people there. Even at the nursing home, he was the social butterfly. He had a little girlfriend over there and they would play cards every afternoon."

"I'm sure he loved it over at Skyline, because there were so many people for him to talk to," Jackson added.

Born on Dec. 11, 1911, in San Jose, Garbarino had an older brother and sister and a younger brother, Edwin, who is now the only surviving member of the family. The family moved to Saratoga for a few years while he was a teenager, and Garbarino graduated from Fremont High School in 1929.

In the story of his life as told to Semas, Garbarino said he was a "pretty good baseball player," playing with Joe DiMaggio briefly. "I tried out and got to play left field on the San Francisco Seals semipro ball team for a couple of years. But my parents said I had to quit the team and go to work to help support the family." Garbarino went to work in a paper warehouse owned by family friends.

"He enjoyed his work very, very much," Jackson said. "But he brought up [baseball] several times in conversations."

Garbarino remained a lifelong baseball fan, loyal to the San Francisco Giants until the end. Even after he moved to Skyline and Jackson moved out of the area, "I would write to George every once in a while and say, 'How about those Giants?' He was always going to go to a game with me," Jackson said.

During World War II, Garbarino enlisted in the Navy and was honorably discharged due to his poor health. For half a century, he worked at his father's company, Paul P. Garbarino Machine and Iron Works, taking over the business after both his father and older brother died.

Garbarino retired in 1998. By that time, he had lived in a house on Blewett Avenue and then moved to Willow Street. He had been twice widowed, each time with no children. He had developed a father-daughter relationship with neighbor Semas and asked her to move in in the early 1990s, telling her she could have the house after he was gone.

"He was a terrible pack rat," Semas said. Garbarino kept odds and ends—including utility bills from the 1920s and old newspapers—which were sold off at an estate auction last year.

Garbarino's next-door neighbor for 24 years was Larry Ames. Ames remembers not only Garbarino sitting out front and talking to passersby, but also being exceptionally friendly as a neighbor. The Ames would invite Garbarino over whenever they had a barbecue, and Garbarino offered to let Ames' son park a Volkswagen bus on his property while it was being fixed up. Part of the deal, Ames said, was that his son would clear the area of the firewood that sat there so he could park his car. "George was happy because one, he got the firewood fixed and, two, he could look out the window and see us working," he said.

For his 90th birthday, Semas put together a huge surprise party at Lou's Village.

The Ames drove an unsuspecting Garbarino over to the restaurant. "The entire back room of Lou's Village was filled with neighbors, friends, family," he said.

A notable among the guests was San Jose District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager, who showed up with a commendation from the city, honoring Garbarino for his history and sense of community.

While he lived in Willow Glen, Garbarino's routine was to wake up each morning and then spend some time outside. A gate with a cowbell attached to it separated the Ames' and Garbarino's house. Ames recalls hearing the rusty clang of the cowbell every day at around 6 a.m., when Garbarino would make his way outdoors.

"I haven't heard that cowbell for the past couple years, when he was in a wheelchair," Ames said. "I guess I won't hear it at all anymore."

As he requested, Garbarino will be cremated. Semas is also planning a celebration of his life at Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel, to take place at the beginning of the year.