(By Al Ticineto, posted to Wrestling Legends mailing list, April 27, 2002)
Subject: Oh, what a trip! My St. Louis visit in honor of Bobby Shane!
Greetings All,
I had posted details of my then-upcoming trip earlier this year. I am
back from St. Louis, and what a week it was.
I have a ton of stories to tell. This is a long one!
It was a great trip - I couldn't have asked for it to have gone
better!
Early Friday morning KDHX radio played "Bobby's Song," which I had
written about Bobby. Demo was made in Antioch TN, a suburb of
Nashville.
Arrived Friday, a little late getting in to St. Louis. They have
this "Call A Ride" service for handicapped persons, and I had gotten
a temporary ID card to use while there. They picked me up at the
airport, and by time I got to the hotel and checked in, another bus
was there to take me to the liquor store (I bought Bobby Shane's
friend, Charlie, a couple of bottles of wine as a thank-you for his
help, got myself a bottle as well). Really nice guy at the liquor
place - not a typical store, more or less a business that sells
unique brands of wine, they have a wine cellar - interesting place!
I had made up flyers with a bio and photos of Bobby Shane that told
about the reasons for this trip. I gave both the bus driver and the
man at the liquor store copies of the flyer, and I gave it out here
and there throughout the week.
Charlie came by Friday after work. He is a really great guy. Now, he
and Bobby were briefly in elementary school together and then met up again in high school, that is where they became best friends. Bobby was already training to be a pro, and he tried talking Charlie into going in with him. Charlie thought he was too small, and nixed the
idea. "I should have followed his lead," Charlie told me. "He did
really well." After graduation, they met up again in Seattle (Charlie
was stationed up there while in the Air Force, and that was the first
place Bobby was sent to wrestle).
Eventually he and Bobby did lose touch, the last time they saw each
other was 1968. Charlie remembered hearing on the radio about Bobby's death. Charlie had a job with eastern airlines and he flew a lot. The day that he learned Bobby had died, he was (later) on a plane heading south, and Johnny Valentine (whom Charlie had met before) was on the plane. Charlie broke the news to him, and Johnny was very upset to hear about Bobby's passing.
Charlie told me about Bobby's funeral - remembered all the wrestlers
and tons of flowers. Charlie brought the high school yearbook over,
and I had my camera and I took a photo of Bobby's high school
picture, and a shot of the wrestling team photo as well.
Here's a funny story. Charlie had told me what a joker Bobby was.
Now, Charlie was going steady by senior year, and Bobby was always
teasing Charlie and his girlfriend. Charlie and her soon got engaged,
and Bobby would tease Charlie and say "you're going to be a married
man? Come on, you gotta have fun." Now, when I showed Charlie a photo I had of Bobby and Sherri (Sheeri was Bobby's second wife), he said "man, i could have given him such a hard time about her! And he told me about getting married, and he gets married twice," he said
with a laugh.
Friday night, I went to a local pub for dinner, but once the food
came, I wasn't really hungry and took the food back to the hotel.
Later, I relaxed with a glass of wine and a good cigar. Unwound after
a long day!
Saturday - Went to see local wrestling show at the South Broadway
Athletic Club - downtown. It was pretty interesting. I got there
early and met Gino the Exterminator - short and stocky. Talked for a few minutes, but he was busy getting things set up for the matches. The fans pretty much interract with the wrestlers in this small (200-seat) club. Met a lady who I had been in a chat room with about St. Louis, and we had a beer and talked a little.
Before the matches, they put several large photos of St. Louis
wrestling legends on the ring apron. Photos included the Black Jacks,
Baron Von Raschke, the Von Erichs, Lou Thesz, Pat O'Connor, Harley
Race, etc.
They had a picture of Wahoo McDaniel with a newpaper article - that is where I found out he had passed away. I felt sad - so many have passed away over the past few months.
The card itself was enjoyable, and had an old-school feel. With the
lighting and low ceiling, it reminded me of the old TV tapings in the
small studios. The matches had a lot for us old timers - Someone
actually did an arm-drag takedown into an arm-bar. Later, we actually saw a test of strength! I got a bit misty! None of the over-hyped, over produced, choreographed crap we are subjected to these days!
The card was three hours with an intermission half way through.
Afterwards, I was talking for a couple of minutes with the promoter,
but my cab came (bad timing).
Sunday, I went to a church service before heading to the cemetary. I am Catholic, but since Bobby was Lutheran, I went to a Lutheran
church near his old neighborhood. I had contacted them months
earlier, and the pastor said he would put a mention about Bobby in
the bulletin. And when I got there and saw the bulletin, it was in
there just as he promised. I spoke with the deacon and the pastor for a few minutes, and the other parish members kindly helped me through the service, which is a bit different than the Catholic mass.
After the service, I was waiting for the next bus. This was funny - I
was leaning against a newspaper machine, and a little boy (maybe five
years old) comes up to me holding out his hand. "I have money if you
want to buy something from there," he said. It was just a sweet
moment.
I got to the cemetery, and the caretaker's office was closed, so I
tried to find the graves (Bobby's and his father's - I've been
corresponding with his mom for five years now, I feel like a
Schoenberger family friend). The cemetery is HUGE, and I couln't find it. As I was looking, it started to rain, so here I am, walking in
the rain trying to find the graves ("Bobby, I'm here, I just can't
find you," I'm calling out). The bus came an hour later, and I never
found the grave that day.
Got back to the hotel, I was tired, so I ordered pizza. Had some more wine, another cigar.
Monday - I went back to the cemetery and the caretaker's office pointed me to the graves. I actually stopped by Mr. Schoenberger's first, it felt like the right thing to do - paying respects at Bobby's dad's grave. I then went to Bobby's, and it was quite moving. I am sure that Bobby sees how his fans remember him. I said a few prayers, and I played the song while kneeling by his grave. I'm sure he knows he's not forgotten.
After the cemetery, I went to the neighborhood where he grew up. Took a couple of pictures of the house. As I was there, the next-door neighbor - a lady in her 70's - came out, and I mentioned why I was there. She had lived there over 40 years and remembered the family quite well. She recalled Bobby always working out, even when the other boys would be playing ball or something, he'd be lifting weights or doing pushups or other exercises. She told me a funny story how Bobby and her son camped out in the back yard one night, her son lost his nerve and decided to go in. "Coward," Bobby chided him. "I'm not built like you are," her son told Bobby before going inside. She remembered the funeral. They had to make a special casket for Bobby because of his broad shoulders. She remembered the many flowers at the funeral home.
Tuesday, Bobby has an uncle (his father's brother) who lives in the
area, and I decided to call him. He was a bit surprised to hear from
me. I explained my trip, mentioned the flyer, he asked me to send him one. We talked for a few minutes, and that was basically that.
Later, I had gone out to lunch, an Italian place across from the
hotel. This place was packed! The food was good, and the portions
were just enough - not oversized. I had this chicken dish, breaded
and in some kind of garlic and butter sauce, really tasty!
At 2:00 I had my appointment to call a man named Greg Freeman, a
columnist for their big paper - the Post-Dispatch. We spoke for a few minutes, he asked me how I got into wrestling and interested in Bobby Shane. Interview lasted no more than ten minutes and he told me he would try to have the column in Thursday's paper. I hung up with him feeling very satisfied - my tribute to Bobby was a complete success!
Wednesday - with my project complete, I made Wednesday my sightseeing day. I went down by the Arch, and man, I had no idea how big it was. Mighty impressive! I went down below and checked out the museum and bought souveniers. I didn't go on any of the tours. I wasn't aware of it (Charlie told me when we spoke later), but you are able to ride up into the Arch! Oh well, next time!
I also visited the Old Cathedral which is located in front of the
Arch (kind of), and it was really interesting.
On the way back, my cab driver (he was kind enough to give me his
number to call him when I couldn't get Call-A-Ride) told me about
this great place for lunch - Ryan's Steak House - buffet-style, all
you can eat. He was heading out to lunch after dropping me off, so we decided to have lunch together at Ryan's. What a great place! The food was very good, some interesting dishes. They had this sausage in some kind of red sauce (not tomato sauce, some spicy red sauce), also a gumbo dish, chicken and rice, and a slice of pizza!
Wednesday night I went by the library and checked my e-mail (accidentally deleted a bunch I had not yet checked, and you can't
retrieve them from another location; oh, well!).
Thursday - this day was unbelievable! I was up bright and early and
went right out to get the paper. Now, the Post-Dispatch is the same
layout as the New York Times with the sections separated and folded
in half. I looked through the Everyday section and found nothing. The
main section (I knew that was a long shot), still nothing. I get to
the Metro section, and right on the front (long thin column to the
left) I see the headline ("Wrestler's Quest to Live Dream Inspires
Ardent Fan"). I was thrilled, a nice size article about Bobby Shane!
The article talked about Bobby training to be a wrestler, starting in
Seattle, back to Missouri, and then hitting it big down south. Greg
Freeman had looked up some info on the crash and mentioned the other wrestlers on the plane. In all, a nice article, I was very pleased.
Now, I had planned to call Bobby's uncle and let him know to check
the paper, but I didn't want to call too early. Around 9 o'clock my phone rang, it was him. He had seen the article and we talked for a few minutes.
"Do you have any plans for lunch?" he asked me. I didn't, and he said
he would drive down (from Florissant - 35 miles away!) and take me to lunch! I was excited, and a little nervous as well.
I had a couple of hours to kill before Mr. Schoenberger came, and it
was a beautiful day out. I did some walking, and than sat on the
lounge chair on the patio outside the indoor pool.
I headed for the lobby around 11:45, and I walked past a short, gray-haired man, and his eyes followed me as I walked by, and i kind of looked back and realized this was Bobby's uncle! Any nervousness was quickly put aside, and I gotta tell you, he is one nice man!
We shook hands, and we sat and talked. I showed him the church
bulletin, and some photos I had brought along. After a few minutes,
we went across the street to a restaurant. He recommended as an
appetizer this toasted ravioli that they make, and it was pretty darn
good - but filling - they give you nine ravioli - and it was just an
appetizer. I thought he was going to have some, but he just ordered a bowl of soup and a sandwich. So I had the ravioli, then the salad,
then the chicken Parmigian with a small plate of pasta that they
serve with the meal. It was a good lunch, but very filling.
As we ate, he told me about Bobby. Said that Bobby was always a
gentleman, and I had mentioned that Cowboy Bob Kelly had said the
same thing about Bobby in a message in response to something I had
posted about Bobby a while back on the Wrestling Legends forum. Bobby and his uncle were pretty close, In fact, once when he and his wife were vacationing in Florida, Bobby had found out from his parents that his aunt and uncle were in Florida, and Bobby and another wrestler drove from Miami to see them. He remembered "Cowboy" and thinks it was Bob Kelly. I think it could have been Cowboy Bill Watts, I don't remember Kelly wrestling in Miami, but he could have been visiting.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel and talked a little more. He
told me if I ever go back to Missouri he would show me around. As he
was ready to head off, he gave me a hug and thanked me. I thanked
him! He really gave me some nice memories.
Well, that's not the end by a longshot. Charlie came by around 6:30,
(he had worked overtime), couldn't stay long. I'm glad he did come
by, I had forgotten to get a picture of him!
Later, the phone rings, it was a man named Larry, he had seen the
article. He and Bobby went to grade school and part of high school
together. We talked for an hour! He remembered Bobby being interested in wrestling from early on, and by the time he was a teenager, he was already kind of an insider, and no longer approached wrestling as a fan, but rather as someone who was preparing to join the ranks someday. Bobby actually had an early job cutting Wild Bill Longson's grass (an important early connection). Longson, a former NWA champion, was a trainer for the St. Louis wrestling club. While in high school, Bobby got a job as a "second" for the wrestling club -
taking the wrestlers' robes and jackets back to the dressing rooms.
One of Bobby's early trainers was Rip Hawk, and he and Bobby became close. Charlie had also told me about Bobby's friendship with Rip Hawk and he thinks that Bobby's love of cigars was inspired by Hawk.
By the way, both Larry and Charlie told me that those stories of
Bobby being roughed up a bit during training were true. The pros
didn't take Bobby seriously, and were rough with him, but Bobby had
a lot of guts and always came back for more (being from the Show Me state, he did show them). Larry told me that he and Bobby once took the train to Washington DC and actually went to an NWA convention.
Larry remembered seeing Buddy Rogers, the Kangaroos, the Grahams,
Valentine. He has pretty much followed wrestling over the years, and
we talked about guys like Pat O'Connor, Bruiser Brody, the Sheik,
Bruiser and Crusher.
After I hung up, the phone rang again, it was a first cousin of
Bobby's who had heard about my trip and meeting with her and Bobby's uncle. (Bobby's father's family was huge - nine Schoenberger siblings). We talked for around an hour as well, and said that Bobby was always protective of wrestling and would not break kayfabe. She is four years older than Bobby, and she remembers him being a prankster (a bit mischievous at times!). She also told me that when Bobby first joined the wrestling team at the school he went to before Southwest High School (where he had met Charlie), he was actually kicked off the wrestling team for using pro holds. It was just funny the way she told the story. When he entered Southwest, he joined the wrestling team and was on the team until graduating year (1963). We just had a great conversation.
After we hung up, I felt incredible, not only was my tribute a
success, I met Charlie, spoke with another school buddy of Bobby's,
and a first cousin, met a neighbor, and most of all, the pleasure of
meeting Bobby's uncle.
I was now ready for dinner, and the hotel's restaurant served Chicago-style pizza with the thin, crispy crust. Really good.
Friday morning, up early, headed for airport, and as I boarded the
plane it was like "thank you, St. Louis,"
Flight home was good, traffic back to Long Island was horrible and it
took almost two hours.
Checked e-mail and found a message from another one of Bobby's cousins. She seemed nice as well, but really no further info. It was great exchanging messages with her, though. Now I truly feel like a
Schoenberger family friend!
It's funny, as Tuesday ended, I was feeling like I was pretty much
finished with this project and moving on. Little did I know that on
Thursday, I would meet Bobby's uncle, and spend an hour each talking
with Bobby's cousin and another school buddy. And on Friday another
cousin!
This trip has been the time of my life!
There you have it: "Alfred's Excellent Adventure," very emotionally
satisfying.
Have a great weekend!
Alfred T
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