Russ Schaffenberg

I went to see Bob at the VA hospital spinal injury unit a week before he died. We were best friends as kids but lost touch and I hadn't seen him in over 20 years. But with so much shared history, we reconnected easily, updated one another about friends and family, reminisced about our good times together. His mind was intact but his left arm didn't work and his right worked just enough to run the joy stick on his wheel chair, his TV and phone. I brought photos from the 60's up to 1970, when we had a going away party for him and Mike Sharp who joined the Navy together. He said his son was coming to see him in a couple days and that they had found a nursing home for him in Britt, Iowa and was waiting to be transferred. I promised I would go visit him there. Right after Christmas I called him and left a message, hoping to see him once more before he was transferred, I had more photos to share, but then I heard the news.

Bob and I were best friends since Franklin elementary, he lived just 2 blocks from me. My folks were alcoholics, divorced, dad was gone and we had no money, no frills at my place. But Bob's home and his life seemed full of everything, he was eager to share it all with me and I was grateful to go along for the ride. He never stayed over at my place but at times, I practically lived with him. His folks, Doris and Harold (Arnie) treated me like family, they owned the Oleander and were often there until late, so Bob and I would entertain ourselves, watch movies. On Sunday mornings we would do chores at the Oleander, get paid then go across the street to Birch's drug store for a strawberry malt and he would buy a Mad magazine.

I could tell stories all day, but will share just a few. When he was 15 his folks bought him a scooter so now we had wheels and were getting into partying, some crazy antics. Apitz was right, he did have a zest for life, plus a strong desire to be with people and having fun. As soon as he got his driver's license they got him a black 1960 Rambler, so now we really had wheels. His dad hunted moose in Ontario and Bob wanted to use his connections and go fishing up there. I was 15, we took his 10 year old nephew Tim with us and went way off grid to a moose hunting cabin up the English River near Ignace. Pretty ambitious for kids, that was Bob.

I could make a very long list of the folks we hung out with, I hesitate to name names lest I omit someone, but among them are Bollenbacher, Larson, Vogel, Carl Peterson, Tom May, Willaby, and John Fogarty (A transfer from Iowa who was with us for a few years, missed a grade, turned 18 as a junior, quit high school, joined the marines, went to Viet Nam and was killed. A car load of us went to his funeral in Council Bluffs.) We also hung with a lot of guys from the class of '67, like Cal Roff, Schnabel, Tony Brown (who just wrote a book about his Viet Nam experience, 'First Hippie in Saigon'), Rog Norland, Steve Frost, Jody Dubke, and others.

We and many of our friends worked at one of the Brennan's DS stations, gas was $0.339. It was full service then, 2 or 3 of us would go out to each customer. Girls wore miniskirts so each of us would want to be the one who washed the windshield, thoroughly. Our college friends would buy beer for us and the station was the perfect place to gather socially, fill coolers with beer and ice then go to the lake or the Kato outdoor. One time the sheriff busted our late night party on Lake Washington, some stayed by the campfire, others scattered, Carl Peterson tried to save our cooler of beer, slug it over his shoulder and waded out into the lake. But the deputy saw him, made us put all our beer in his car, but then let us go and chased us out.

Bob's sister Pat and her husband Bill Duncanson owned Mr. D's pizza in the cities, we would go up there for the weekend and do chores at the pizza place. His uncle and aunt, Floyd and "Boots" Miller were avid outdoors people, taught us to fly fish and hunt ducks and we did a lot of that into the 70's until I graduated and moved to the cities. I have some classic photos of Bob from back then but they are slides, I will get some digitized and post them.

I always intended to go back to Mankato and reconnect with Bob and regret not doing so. The events of these past few weeks made all those memories come rushing back, and I miss him so much. 

Russ Schaffenberg

Happy, Happy Birthday, Russ. Keep Rocking' and let's get the band back together... soon!

Russ,

You are correct. We won the Franklin Junior High "Talent" Contest with our own version of "House of the Rising Sun"!

Sounds like you've travelled several exciting roads since them, personally and professionally.

Keep it up and Keep Rockin'!!

Apitz - Rhythm Guitar