Joseph 'Lil Joe' Dennis 1939-2011, Memorial Sunday in Pier Plaza

On Sunday, friends and family members of Joseph Dennis will gather at Portwood Pier Plaza to celebrate the life of the man they called “L’il Joe” who passed away March 3 of heart failure after a bout with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.

He was 71.

A memorial will be held .

“L’il Joe” was known to many as a good friend and family man, but those who never met him may have spotted him zipping around town.

“He had long white hair and he rode a little red scooter. He liked to ride down there along the water," said his longtime friend Susan Gallegos. “He was a familiar sight on the street and down by the beach."

Dennis was born Dec. 31, 1939, and raised in Fort Wayne, Ind. When he got older, he left home to explore the country on a motorcycle.

It was his love for rock and roll that landed him in New Orleans, where he became a road manager for the band Vince Vance and the Valiants and at one time for the Allman Brothers, Gallegos said.

After many years, he left New Orleans for the Florida music scene.

After a steady career, he hopped back on his motorcycle and headed west where he eventually found the in Imperial Beach, a city he fell in love with.  

“He loved it here. He thought it was peaceful. He thought the people were very, very nice," Gallegos said.

"He went to look at the ocean almost every day,” she said. “He just thought it was one of the best places in the world to live.”

Dennis traveled the United States and had a career in music, but a true highlight of his life came two years ago when he bought a computer and found his birth mother on the Internet.

The search took two days, Gallegos said.

As a little boy, Dennis' father went overseas to fight in World War II, so his grandmother helped raise him.

Eventually, his mother remarried and moved away, and the two reconnected 50 years later.

Gallegos said Dennis initially thought his mother passed away, and his mother thought the same thing about Dennis.  

Although they never reunited in person, Dennis spoke with her on the phone every Saturday.

 “You would think that they had never been separated,” Gallegos said. “They were so close. It was just a truly beautiful thing to know about.”

Dennis’ death was a big surprise to Gallegos.

He checked himself into the hospital because he was having trouble breathing.

While there, his condition improved. As Dennis was waiting to undergo some tests before his release, Gallegos said she was told Dennis was laughing and joking with the nurses, and then he just suddenly died.

“None of this was expected. I was expecting to bring him home in a few days," she said.

Dennis is survived by his five children, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.