Gertis McDowell greets passers-by on Marshall Street in this 2014 photo. He was known for greeting females with "pretty lady" or "pretty girl" and greeting males as "big papa."

Gertis McDowell sitting on Marshall Street outside Campus Cuts barber shop in 2014. McDowell died on Jan. 7 at age 67.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Gertis McDowell, a fixture of Marshall Street and the Syracuse University community, died Wednesday at his apartment, police Lt. Eric Carr confirmed.

McDowell, who the Daily Orange profiled in 2008, was 67.

McDowell was found dead in his apartment at 833 E. Brighton Ave. around 5 p.m. that day when a friend came by to check on him, Carr said.

He died of natural causes, Carr said.

A profile of McDowell appeared in the Sept. 5, 1993 issue of the Syracuse Herald American, detailing his past work as a nursing assistant and the happiness he found as a shoe shiner, something he'd been doing since he was a 14-year-old boy growing up in Birmingham, Alabama.

In December 1993, McDowell fell 40 feet from a broken fire escape at the YMCA on Montgomery Street, where he was living at the time. The fall forced doctors to rebuild his pelvis, knees and arms, the Daily Orange reported.

Former Post-Standard reporter Jim McKeever profiled McDowell in his personal blog last April.

Watch: A 2011 video profile of McDowell by Newhouse broadcast students:



Gertis McDowell Tells His Story from Newhouse BDJ on Vimeo.

Sad day on the Syracuse campus with the passing of Gertis McDowell. No longer will pretty ladies and big poppas be called out from Marshall — Mike R (@RemptoriousBIG) January 13, 2015

I demand @SyracuseU fly their flags at half staff for Gertis McDowell. He and Chancy Nancy need their own dorms named after them. — leslie berkowitz (@heyleslieb) January 13, 2015

Hope they serve Varsity wings in heaven for ya, buddy. Rest in peace, Gertis. http://t.co/uP1BHno36a — Hailey Temple (@haileytemple) January 13, 2015

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