Dick Klitch is 75

----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Kegley
To: GolfJL@aol.com ; Buckdayo@aol.com
Sent: 2008-08-17 14:26
Subject: Dick Klitch is 75


Jeanie and I were very privileged to spend the evening at Lindays' in German Village last night.

Jody, a Vice President of Dockers' in SF and a daughter, was the instigator among the other Klitch offspring in establishing the party. Dick's actual 75th birthday was Friday the 15th.

With the grandchildren, there were thirty or so of us gathered in the upstairs patio for a perfect summer evening.

These are a few of my observations:

All of Dick's and Joan's children and grandchildren are very exceptional people individually.

Beth has encountered a disabling disease which leaves her in a lot of pain as still a young lady. She, more or less, dismissed herself from the hospital yesterday afternoon, with insistence to make her dad's birthday party. Beth's career had brought her to the pinnacle of success as a much sought after speaker concerning the qualities of nursing home operations, and she had a thriving business employing 22 people as well as many consultants from offices on the edge of Grandview. She maintains her intelligence and perspicuity with a great deal of courage, ala Herman Klitch, Dick's dad and our Mound Park guru of sports.

Tim and his wife live in Lyndon Johnson's former house in Austin Texas and have three outstanding and athletic teen age sons. Tim is an OEM of a firm in Austin and is class personified. If you have met him, you like and respect Tim as he so does his dad. The young fellow has recently lost thirty pounds and declares himself to be "shaping up". The handsome executive looks good and has a good looking and exceptional Austin raised wife.

Jenny has taken a job in Washington D.C., and although her lawyer-husband still lives in southern FL, they commute to each other on weekends. She was hired not long ago by a firm in Washington which manages business affairs of 57 sports and celebrity figures, including a recently celebrated Olympic swimmer named Michael Phelps- the Olympics' all-time gold medal winner.

Beth's youngest grandchild, to Caroline, is less than a year old. Jody, obviously bright and vibrant as a lady executive, shows humility of greatness in psyche. While we all dined, mostly on never better filet mignon for most of us, Jody stood holding and rocking the baby in her arms in an inconspicuous manner. After the meal, Andy Adams was the first to go, take the baby in his arms, and relieving the wonderful Jody to allow her to eat the great meal.

Each of the kids, sans the courageously attentive Beth, spoke words about their 75 year old dad. Jody's included observed features of the "white-haired man" to the two beautiful granddaughters and to Jody. Jenny the ex-tennis pro and now successful lawyer, gave teasing remarks about the father she respects and loves. Tim told a couple of Dick Klitch ditties.

Andy Adams, the very successful Columbus lawyer from Portsmouth and Dick's good friend and tennis protégé, told of how Dick has started many of his friends and other students along the right paths. I was happy to give Dick an e-mail message from my oldest son, Jay, concerning Dick's help in getting Jay the invitation to play Division 1 basketball at Miami of Ohio. I asked only yesterday morning that he write something , because I knew Jay can write much better than I and that he too respects the Klitches very much. I learned things in Jay's e-mail message which I hadn't fully realized about Jeanie's, and my, son.

Jeanie sat next to Beth and I was extremely proud of her loving attention to the weakened and suffering young friend. Jeanie enjoys thinking of friends with cards on many different occasions. She thinks often of Beth and knows that Joan makes several trips to help her daughter at her home in Mount Vernon, OH. Jeanie sends cards to Beth quite often. Beth expressed her appreciation of Jeanie's closeness to her.

Another teaching pro lady from Massachusetts spoke of her great respect for Dick's tennis teaching which had been of tremendous help to her. Joe Arganbright Joan's cousin and a member along with his twin brother of Dick Hopkins' Ohio State Championship American Legion team from Grandview in 1959, was there kibitzing in his best form. Joe was also a great friend of recently departed urchin Shorty Valance. Joe was successful in insurance and Beth expressed her gratitude that he had convinced her to get a disability plan at an early age preceding her setback. Joe declared that few young people thought to purchase the disability plan. Don't we all think that we are invincible?

That is pretty much my report,Bob and Ron, my two fellow urchins. Dick and I each wished that you, and many others since deceased, were there to celebrate.

Seventy-five years and still walking. And, even at that, he is still nearly three months younger than me. I will be 76 November 13 and Ronnie will be 75 the same day. What about you, young John Bob looney?

With little audacity, I copy my Portsmouth address list with this message. Dick is an ex-urchin of P'Town celebrity status.

Sam

Observing from the stone park bench across from the Sugar Bowl. We had it made in our younger urchin days.

Wildcat and Middletown Middie- Shelby Linville- dies

These e-mails are by Jack Plymale, a 1944 Portsmouth Trojan football lineman under Coach Paul Walker, and myself, regarding shelby Linville's passing at 78.

*Sam, poosibly, even a greater thrill than watching great athletes is to
revel in the memory of that greatness and to marvel at the talent of their
tutors who could call on them for excellence and get it almost every time
and do it repetitively over long periods. The old Col at UK was a classic
example. I can stil remember a radio interview in which they had he and
several of his players in the late middle forties. He was talking about, and
to ,Wah-Wah Jones. The slow and rolling way he said WAWWAW and the affection
that was implied kinda rings through the years. I think Wah-Wah was an end
and made all american for Bear Bryant too. I think he pitched baseball
also . Paul Walker had a marvelous sense of humor and got almost exactly
what he wanted all the time with very little rancor or personal degradation.
He was a very demanding task master, but made these demands in a way that
implied(without saying it) they are for you, not me. We half way kidded him
for years that he got Jerry Lucas's dad a job at Armco so he would move
from Kyto middletown. Sorry to hear about Shelby Linville. What"s the old
bromide (One of Gib Lakeman's favorites): "all the great men are dying and I don"t
feel so good myself." I feel great!*
On 8/6/08, Sam Kegley wrote:
>
> Jack Plymale,
>
> I know that you have difficulty opening long links down in the mountains
> of Costa Rica, but you surely knew of Shelby Linville. Mr. Linville died in
> Middletown this past weekend. You played for the undefeated 1944
> Portsmouth Trojans football team coached by Paul Walker and shared many Ohio
> State football games along side of Paul, Jim Fout and Stephen "Doc" Yeagle.
> Coach Walker surely must have spoken of Shelby Linville. Shelby led the
> Middies to two Ohio State Championships before going to Kentucky and helping
> the Wildcats win Adolph Rupp's third NCAA Championship in 1951. I have to
> add that UK now has seven NCAA's and I believe that current UK Coach Billy
> Gillispie has many of the greatness qualites of Paul Walker, Adolph Rupp and
> Shelby Linville.
>
> http://www.wildcatnation.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44649
>
>
> Sam

Tobey Kegley 12 year old fast pitch pitcher

Last weekend, our 12 year old, Tobey, fell on her left elbow and hyperextended it, taking her out of a good game in the Ohio.Com tournament in Cleveland: Grandma Jeanie and I know how very hard she and her daddy work in developing her as a pitcher. This is a message I sent to our Tobey the day after her injury:

U12 Girls’ softball Love



Tobey,


Grandma and I hope your night was not restless with pain, Beautiful.

We believe you are having a wonderful life, even though a stressful life, while you are so young.

We are glad that you stay in touch with God. Remember, at the times you can relax, to thank Him for all of your blessings, even the stress.

Things can pile up on anybody in life and take them away from reality. We never want to see that with our little girl.

Your little sister, Ida Scout, immediately wanted to be your nurse and we loved that.

Grandpa cannot interpret all things well, but something tells me God is in touch with us at all times. I am speaking of my attempt to get you girls’ grandma’s sweaters from the car to use in that cold restaurant.
As I reached the door of the restaurant, the Heavens opened and the rain poured. You saw it pour! I came back with out getting the sweaters then. It lasted only a few moments, then I went for the sweaters for our girls.
This sign tell us something, but I don’t fully understand. I haven’t witnessed an event, all so evidently a sign of something, in my seventy-five years on earth.

In spite of all, it was a great weekend of little girls’ softball. You are certainly important to your team, but you must, and I believe you do, realize that it is a team game. My good friend, Dick Klitch, the exceptionally good tennis pro, wants to give you some valuable lessons in tennis, and that may not happen. It is an individual’s game and he has been part of both types of competition. As a fine softball pitcher, good and getting better, you stand out as an individual. You steadily catch and pitch with your very best efforts with so much cool.

We were also impressed that your team continued to get better all season. The coaches- Liz, Autumn and Doug- devote so much time in molding the team. Your dad and mother helped and Daddy has worked so hard along with you. It nearly appeared fruitless, but the team definitely responded. There were so many great plays by so many of your teammates this past weekend in Cleveland . They all stepped up and played to win. Great infield and outfield plays and hitting in key spots entertained us- your fans. Many games were lost late, but teams have to know that all minutes, and seconds, count in a ball game and you and your team have been learning that.

I think the flash of a quick rain might, hopefully, be telling us that things have been bad but are getting better for each of us.

We confess to our prejudice that you are a very best thing in our life among so many wonderful family and friends which our great God has given us.

You must always know that grandma and I love you now and forever, TobeyTeener PotsaPeener!

Grandpa Sam

PS: You know this comes from our hearts. Would you design a cover for this love story, our twelve-year-old graphic designer?