Friends say Marques Gaines had a knack for turning chance encounters into lasting friendships. The dapper dresser who worked at a North Michigan Avenue hotel was often the life of the party who gave his undivided attention to those with whom he spoke. 
 
 So friends and relatives were baffled after learning that Gaines, 32, had been punched, and then struck and killed by a cab in the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday outside Mother Hubbard's Sports Pub in the Near North neighborhood. 
 
 Police were investigating whether Gaines had been the target of a robbery or involved in "a verbal altercation." 
 
 Authorities said Gaines appeared to have been speaking with two men on the sidewalk near the corner of Hubbard and State streets when one of them punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious into the street. Police confirmed that the second man then rifled through Gaines' pockets and took several personal items before both fled. 
 
 Moments later, he was struck by a cabdriver who did not see him lying in the street, police said. The cabbie stopped and was not ticketed. Gaines was taken to an area hospital and later pronounced dead. 
 
 A family member said Gaines' debit card and cellphone had been stolen. 
 
 Nearly two weeks since Gaines' death, no arrests have been made as detectives review evidence that includes surveillance video. 
 
 "Chicago police detectives are analyzing the evidence and witness statements in this case to determine a motive in this tragic incident," police said in a statement. 
 
 The Cook County medical examiner's office is awaiting the police investigation before deciding whether to classify the death as a homicide or accident. 
 
 Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-718-4242. 
 
 With Gaines' funeral scheduled for Saturday in his native Georgia, his friends, family and co-workers at Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile remembered him as a positive force. A natty dresser, often decked out in suspenders, a blazer and a bowtie, Gaines was comfortable in his own skin, they said. He had worked at the Marriott for about three years, most recently serving cocktails at the hotel bar. 
 
 "He was just trying to bring out the light in the room," said Tim Kraemer, a co-worker who was with Gaines the night he died. 
 
 After ending their evening shifts, Kraemer and another co-worker met up with Gaines at Mother Hubbard's for an evening of drinks and music. The three went their separate ways about 20 minutes before the incident. 
 
 Kraemer said he has wondered ever since the Feb. 7 incident if he somehow could have prevented Gaines' death. 
 
 "You think to yourself, what else could I have done?" he said. "What if I had stayed a little longer? Could I have prevented this?" 
 
 More than a dozen Marriott employees plan to travel to Georgia for the funeral. 
 
 Gaines split his childhood between Texas and Georgia after both of his parents died during his youth, according to his cousin, Drexina Nelson. Nelson's mother, Phyllis, took him in, raising her along with her two children. 
 
 "We've always said we were brother and sister, but we were actually cousins," she said. 
 
 Introverted and bullied as a youngster, Gaines "blossomed" into a social butterfly while attending Northern Michigan University, Nelson said. 
 
 "He really learned who Marques was, and he learned what he really wanted done," she said. 
 
 After moving to Chicago in the late 2000s, Gaines fell in love with the city, making friends with people of different races and walks of life. 
 
 "It's like he found his family with the people in Chicago," Nelson said. 
 
 After the funeral Saturday, Nelson plans to host a party at her photography studio in Atlanta for friends and family to enjoy Gaines' favorite music and food. 
 
 "It's going to be something where we can let our hair down," Nelson said. "We can talk and celebrate this guy. We have to." 
 
 Chicago Tribune's Rosemary Sobol contributed. 
 
 wlee@tribpub.com 
 
 Twitter @MidNoirCowboy ||||| Marques Gaines, 32, was hit by a car after another man knocked him unconscious outside Mother Hubbard's Sports Pub, police said. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin, Facebook 
 
 RIVER NORTH — A hotel bartender died after being punched and then hit by a car outside a River North bar Sunday morning, police said. But friends of Marques Gaines say they're baffled by reports of their incredibly calm friend ever fighting anyone. 
 
 The trouble began around 4:20 a.m. Sunday in the 400 block of North State Street, where two men were arguing on the sidewalk, police said. One of the men, later identified as Gaines, was punched in the face and knocked into the street. 
 
 The person who hit him fled, police said, and the driver of a passing sedan didn't see the unconscious Gaines lying in the street. He was hit and rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said. 
 
 Loop North News reported that Gaines was hit by a cab. The driver did stay on the scene and was not ticketed, police said. 
 
 Gaines grew up in near Atlanta and attended Northern Michigan University, according to Rachel Hogan, one of his friends from Georgia. 
 
 "He was effervescent," Hogan said. "I was really selfish with my time with him, and I knew everyone else was too. Every time you saw him you'd just want to stay with him forever and ever." 
 
 Hogan, like others who knew Gaines, was skeptical of the police account saying his death followed a two-sided argument. 
 
 "In the 13 years I've known him, I've never even seen him exchange words with someone," Hogan said. "If someone ever tried to start something he would get out of the way, or try to calm them down." 
 
 "The maddest I've ever seen him was at a wedding when I didn't know all the words to 'Trap Queen,'" Hogan added, laughing. 
 
 Acquaintances said Gaines, who lived in the 1400 block of West Chicago Avenue, was a bartender at the Chicago Marriott Hotel on Michigan Avenue. 
 
 Rudy Coronel worked alongside Gaines at the hotel for five years, said every time he checked his work schedule he hoped their shifts would overlap. 
 
 "There was just never a dull day with Marques — even on our bad days, he would find a way to make it fun," Coronel said. "He could get along with anybody, make anybody laugh. He was just that kind of guy, so full of life." 
 
 Coronel said when he heard an argument preceded Gaines' death, he was confused. 
 
 "I really can't believe he would do that — he just wasn't a fighter, it wasn't his way," he said. 
 
 Gerry, a security worker at Mother Hubbard's Sports Pub, 5 W. Hubbard St., who declined to give his last name, said "all kinds of stories" were being spread about what happened Sunday morning. But while neither Gerry nor Coronel witnessed the incident, both said they'd heard it was a robbery, not an argument. 
 
 "It doesn't surprise me, either," Gerry said. "There's been so many robberies on this strip late at night, and the police haven't been doing anything about it." 
 
 Gaines was a regular at Mother Hubbard's, Gerry said, and most of the staff there knew him by name. 
 
 "It's been a really tough week here for us, and people are still pretty touchy about it," Gerry said. "Everyone is really in mourning right now." 
 
 Police said they're conducting a death investigation, and no arrests have been made. The morgue listed his cause of death as "pending" earlier this week. 
 
 A funeral service has been tentatively set for next Saturday in Georgia, Hogan said. 
 
 She said friends were planning a huge dance party after the service, "the way Marques would have." Coronel called Gaines a "dancing machine," and Hogan said he "owned the jukebox at whatever bar he was in." 
 
 "Based on all the people who have been showing support on Facebook, we might have to rent out the Georgia Dome for it," Hogan said. 
 
 For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
– In the overnight hours of Feb. 7, a man knocked Marques Gaines unconscious with a punch to the head. He fell into the street, where a second man took Gaines' cellphone and debit card. After the pair fled the scene, Gaines was struck and killed by a cab whose driver never saw him lying in front of Mother Hubbard's Sports Pub in Chicago. Some two weeks later, police have not made any arrests in the death of the 32-year-old, the Chicago Tribune reports. The medical examiner has put off classifying the death as a homicide or accident pending the investigation, which involves analysis of surveillance video. The cab driver remained at the scene and wasn't ticketed. Gaines, who was from Georgia, had lived in Chicago for several years and worked as a bartender at the downtown Marriott Hotel at the time of his death. Friends remember the usually well-dressed Gaines as a positive force and balk at speculation that he had been involved in an argument with his assailants. "I've never even seen him exchange words with someone," one tells DNAinfo. "The maddest I've ever seen him was … when I didn't know all the words to 'Trap Queen.'" A funeral for Gaines is set for Saturday in Georgia.