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The last time I saw James Jamison, he was safe in his brother's apartment, far from the streets he'd wandered as a hard-drinking homeless man.

That was in October, a few months after James had gone to LDS Hospital, short of breath and with a nasty cough. There, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Later, doctors found malignant tumors in his brain and a kneecap.

He was supposed to go straight to the Fourth Street Clinic for follow-up care. He didn't, launching a search by the clinic's outreach team and his case manager, Kim Russo. She and Christina Gallop, the clinic's medical director, began a herculean effort to provide James with medical care and a nursing home, where he lived until his death Monday just after midnight.

Before he died, James reconciled with his children and brothers and sisters, from whom he'd been estranged. He went to church, read his Bible and received palliative care to keep his pain at bay.

He and Russo struck an enduring friendship; she'd gotten him a bus pass and he'd ride around Salt Lake City, stopping at Fourth Street every now and again to visit her.

"He'd say hello, see how I was," Russo said Monday. "The journey with him was a privilege. A lot of love and care came to James."

His brother, Ora Jamison, said his brother began to slip away a few weeks ago. A tall, slender man, James wasn't eating and lost even more weight. The cancer had affected his vocal cords, and he could only whisper.

On Sunday, James was heavily sedated, but his children, Ora and other relatives were with him.

"He knows his family loved him," Ora said. "They're all proud of him, that his life had taken just a dramatic change for the better in the last year."

Then he added: "I'm relieved that he's passed on. It was hard to see him in the state he was in. He'd just fight, fight, fight, even when comatose, using everything to take his breath. He wanted to fight to the end."

Neil O'Donnell and Sons is providing mortuary services at no charge, and Mount Olivet Cemetery is offering a low-cost interment. James' father is buried there, and he wanted to be close to him, Russo said.

Family members from all over the country are coming for a reunion of sorts at which an aunt who is a minister will speak.

"He had a good run," Gallop said. "The changes he made and lots of good relationships. It's as good as anyone could have hoped for."

His longevity is also due to the Fourth Street Clinic, which treats thousands of homeless men, women and children at no cost every year with the same respect as it gave James.

As for me, I'll always remember his gentle serenity when I met him in his brother's apartment. "My life's in the Lord's hands," he said that day.

I'm guessing that's where his soul is now.

Peg McEntee is a news columnist. Reach her at peg- mcentee@sltrib.com, Facebook.com/pegmcentee and Twitter: @ PegMcEntee.