To his neighbors, he was Uncle Kwok.

At a morning vigil yesterday, no family members of Mr. Kwok’s were present. But one woman, Kim Mui, spoke lovingly of him to anyone who asked, taking on the role of surrogate daughter.

In an interview, she recounted how as a child she had gone with her mother to visit Mr. Kwok — at a time when he still had a home in Chinatown. She did not recognize him, she said, when she befriended him about a month ago on the streets, helping him with food and chatting with him in Chinese.

It was Ms. Mui’s mother who told her that this quiet man she had been speaking to was the same person they used to visit decades ago.

“That’s Uncle Kwok,” Ms. Mui said her mother told her.

There are unanswered questions about Mr. Kwok’s life — chiefly, how he ended up living on the streets. What is known, though, is that he found some refuge in his neighborhood.