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Legal Assistant and Homeless Advocate Dies After Purse-Snatching

By Lynne DeVenny

Louisiana native and legal assistant Helen Canafax, employed by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in San Francisco for 19 years, was a passionate advocate for the homeless and needy, volunteering at area non-profit organizations and churches, and befriending and feeding the homeless near her Bay Area office.

On April 10, 2009 (Good Friday), while walking to her car, Ms. Canafax was attacked by at least one purse-snatcher. As a result of the attack, she broke her hip and died several weeks later. ?Relatives say they believe her death came from a blood clot related to the injury that traveled into her heart.?

?The 63-year-old Houma native would have gladly given her purse had they asked, friends and family said.?

Her family says that Ms. Canafax had already forgiven her attackers, but her friends in the homeless community are assisting local law enforcement in its investigation of the attack.

?Helen saw the humanity in the homeless,? said longtime friend Yvonne Allara. ?A lot of people see them, I don?t know, as less than human or they don?t count. I believe that they saw that she saw their humanity.?

Ms. Canafax was also a jewelry maker and planned to build a retirement home in Dularge, Lousiana.

Daily Comet

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on June 06, 2009 (boomark / email).