OAKLAND — Though many people never knew his name, he was a fixture at Lake Merritt. In the mornings, he’d spread out a blanket and with the meticulousness of a decorator, arrange purses, shoes, jewelry and various quaint knickknacks for sale. He’d chat up people as they walked the lake and pet passing dogs.

He was the most laid-back street salesman I’ve ever seen. A few times, I spotted him dozing near his merchandise and wondered how he avoided theft.

Then all of a sudden, sometime in July, he vanished. News began to circulate through word-of-mouth and on social media that the man who people knew only as Willie, if they knew his name at all, had died. The original source of this information — like most everything about the man himself — is a mystery.

Yet people who knew almost nothing about the friendly salesman have erected a memorial to him at his old spot beneath the arches across from our Lady of Lourdes Church. There are stuffed animals, candles, bright red and purple feathered boas, and a Hennessy cognac bottle. Some have left written tributes such as “Honoring a gentle soul who started my day with a touch of grace and love” and “Thank you for your kindness, go with the ancestors.”

Oakland resident Annalee Allen said she was the first to leave a tribute sign early last month, marking the passing of Willie, from whom she sometimes bought inexpensive items, such as a pair of badminton rackets with real gut strings. Allen belongs to a regular Friday walking group and noticed she hadn’t seen him in awhile. An acquaintance who jogs the lake regularly told her of Willie’s passing.

“We put out a sign and by the next week it had grown,” she said. “Now it’s really grown.”

For the record, this news organization has yet to determine the man’s legal name, nor have we been able to confirm his death from official sources. The Alameda County Coroner’s office said it did not have any individual fitting the man’s description from the time period in question.

Still, the tributes keep pouring in.

Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and his wife, Maria, left a sign that read, “We miss you already, rest in peace, the lake will never be the same.” Carson, like most people, had heard the news through the grapevine.

He used to see Willie all the time and once bought a pair of tennis shoes from him. Carson said he gave the salesman money to buy a new bicycle when his was stolen.

“He wouldn’t let anybody pass without, ‘Hi, how you doing,’ ” Carson said. “The last time we saw him, he seemed sick and he was coughing a lot.”

Linda Eath who runs Queens donuts ﻿near the lake, said she had been wondering what happened to the man who used to come to her shop every morning at 7 to buy coffee and noodle soup.

“I used to give him clothes and shoes to sell and a bike one time,” she said.

Clare Davis lives near the lake and remembers the friendly presence on the corner. She didn’t know anything about the salesman until she saw the memorial.

“It’s great to see such a clear outpouring from the community,” she said. “It makes a neighborhood that has gone through so many changes in the last few years feel more neighborly.”

Why do people feel so touched by a man they knew so little about? Part of the answer can be found in an anonymous poem left by a woman paying homage to “the ambassador of good cheer at the Lake Merritt arches.” He called her “momma,” though she didn’t know his name, where he lived, or who his family was.

“A solitary man selling knickknacks on a blanket … by outside appearance he seemed like one with little to rejoice yet each time I saw him he was rejoiceful. He was quick to greet demanding nothing in return. I didn’t even know his name until I saw it on the collection of memorial goodbye notes at his empty space by the lake,” the poem read. “Will, will be missed as much as he was loved by so so many who never really knew who he was.”

Contact Tammerlin Drummond at 510-208-6468. Follow her at Twitter.com/Tammerlin.