Remembering 'two-dollar guy' known for brightening Uptown Waterloo

A homeless man who was well-known in the region has died.

Sixty-nine-year-old Anatole Rybas’ family said he froze to death on the streets of Windsor earlier in 2022. Before he moved there, he spent decades in Uptown Waterloo.

Over the years, members in the community referred to him as the “two-dollar guy,” as the unique signs he would carry often read that he “only needed $2.”

Anatole Rybas was well-known in Uptown Waterloo (Supplied: Jordan Jocius)

“He explained to me quite thoroughly that $5 is too much and $1 was too little,” said Alnoor Keshvani, the owner of Loop Clothing in Uptown Waterloo.

Keshvani said his friendship with Rybas started around 2006, when he hired him to help promote the store.

“Obviously cross promoting him as well. So it was a one-day campaign and it garnered a lot of attention,” said Keshvani.

He said Waterloo Region will miss Rybas and admitted he’d usually see him pop up every year in the spring.

“You’d see Anatole again on the street with his signs and his charismatic smile,” said Keshvani.

Rybas’ cousin, Annie Toman, said she found out about him passing on Feb. 1 and was devastated.

She said he recently moved to Windsor, where he was found dead while outside on a cold winter day.

“The saddest part is that he died alone of hypothermia,” Toman said. “It’s very hard to try and put that together. He didn’t have his coat.”

Rybas was born in Toronto in 1952 and he went to school at the University of Waterloo but his family said he suffered from mental illness around that time.

“When the schizophrenia hit him, he wasn't able to complete that,” said Toman.

While he was homeless on and off for more than half of his life, his family said he wasn’t ashamed.

“His work was panhandling and he was very proud that he did it well," Toman said. "He went out every day, like a job."

His family said Rybas will be remembered for his magnetic personality and as a gentle soul who loved to strike up a conversation with anyone who would listen.

Friends and family have started a fundraiser in his honour, with money raised going towards initiatives to help stop homelessness in Canada.

His family said they are hoping to hold a private funeral for Rybas on Feb. 14.