O.C. homeless man remembered as living life on his own terms

They packed into the church’s ranch house to say goodbye to a man society considered an outcast. But to his friends and family, Paulus Smit was someone who lived life on his own terms.

Sporadically homeless, Smit chafed at authority and learned to live on the streets, hustling what he could from dumpsters he cheerfully called the “gettin’ place.” He bristled at responsibilities but stayed in contact with his three daughters and their children, dropping off gifts during visits.

At his funeral on Saturday, scores of well-wishers gathered at SeaCoast Grace Church in Cypress to remember the man known fondly as “Dutch,” who was stabbed more than 60 times last month in a slaying linked to a serial killer who preyed on homeless men.

FOR THE RECORD: A photo caption with an earlier version of this online article misspelled Tressa Cole’s first name as Tessa and Julia Smit-Lozano’s first name as Julie.

Smit’s body was found Dec. 30 near the Yorba Linda Public Library, where he often spent days reading car magazines or newspapers. Prosecutors say the 57-year-old was the third victim in a series of brutal killings in north Orange County by Itzcoatl “Izzy” Ocampo. Ocampo faces four murder charges in connection with the fatal stabbings between Dec. 20 and Jan. 13.

“It was so violent,” the victim’s oldest daughter, Julia Smit-Lozano, told funeral-goers. “The guy who took his life didn’t know my dad the way I know my dad.”

Smit-Lozano recalled how her father visited when she was a teenager and how she noticed that the streets had changed him, hardening him against the world. She vowed to help him and kept visiting, telling him, “I love you no matter what, wherever you are, wherever you go,” until months later he began to appear himself again.

“He had kids who had unconditional love for him, regardless of who he was,” she said.

As a young boy, Smit moved to the United States from Holland and grew up in Huntington Beach with his parents and three siblings.

On a projector screen in the church’s ranch house, the young Smit beamed down from black-and-white photos. In one, the boy flashed a toothy grin beside a Christmas tree, holding aloft a large wrapped gift like a trophy.

Smit’s resourcefulness shone through from an early age.

Glenn Smit told how his older brother took him fishing one night in Newport Beach. The older boy had devised his own method of angling, using only a can on a string and frozen peas for bait. As the boys cast out their cans, two men wandered by clutching expensive-looking fishing poles and worms for bait. Hours later, the same men strolled back past them.

“Did you catch anything?” the boys asked.

“No,” the men replied. “You?”

Paulus held up a pile of fish caught with their cans.

“We were jazzed,” Glenn said to laughter. Over the years, he said, he and his brother, who was 11 years older, grew apart. “I just want to remember the good times,” he said.

His family recalled how Paulus got into trouble, sneaking out at night to spend time on the streets when he was just 9 or 10. He ran afoul of school rules and later, as an adult, the law. Court records show a number of drug arrests. He held several jobs, including driving tow trucks and repossessing cars, but they did not last long.

“He didn’t care for authority,” said his older brother, Marc.

Smit’s youngest daughter, Heather Smit-Rayo, said her father lived on his wits and never begged. He was known to sell pies he salvaged from dumpsters behind grocery stores, she said, or cash in scrap metal that others had thrown away.

“He was a real free spirit,” she said.

Nevertheless, life took a toll. Poor hygiene helped rob him of all but seven teeth, and Smit suffered from heart problems. In the weeks before his death, he talked about applying for a recycling job, Smit-Rayo said.

Ron Cady, 50, said Smit’s eldest daughter introduced him to her father several years ago when she brought him to Cady’s Garden Grove home for Thanksgiving dinner. The two men bonded. Cady, a truck driver, said Smit gave him a new appreciation for the homeless.

“I’ve always had a pretty harsh attitude about people on the street,” Cady said. “He really opened up my eyes.”

jack.leonard@latimes.com