[MEDIA] Calgary Sun 10.24.03 Fond farewell for Stu

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2003/10/24/235534.html

Fond farewell for Stu

By ERIC FRANCIS -- CALGARY SUN 

Standing in the front room of the house he made famous, Stu Hart
ambled towards me with purpose. It was his 82nd birthday and despite
the fact arthritis and a lifetime of hard knocks made it tough for him
to stand fully upright, within minutes of meeting me, he thought
nothing of engulfing me in his powerful grasp.

For reasons unknown, the lovable wrestling legend apparently found it
all too irresistible to turn a young visitor into a pretzel.

I hadn't inquired about his wrestling days, nor had I requested a
demonstration, but I quickly surmised from the congregation of
snickering grandchildren that something roundly entertaining for
everyone except me was about to take place.

Mumbling something about a match at Madison Square Garden in which he
used the same manoeuvre, the patriarch of Canada's most famous
wrestling family dug his forehead into the bridge of my nose and
challenged me to escape his grasp. Within seconds, it became obvious I
wasn't going anywhere until the sturdy octogenarian decided the show
was over. As dozens more gathered to watch what had so obviously
occurred thousands of times in Stu's house on the hill, a searing pain
shot through my skull before I felt the first trickle of blood ooze
from my nose. Taunting me repeatedly while he played to the crowd, my
gentle pleas for help elicited healthy laughter from everyone on hand.
Stu -- always the showman.

It was only when my blood began running down his Stampeders jersey
that he elected to let me go. After all, Stu never liked blood.

As a well-respected wrestling promoter whose Stampede Wrestling shows
helped put Calgary on the map long before the Flames or Olympics, Stu
shunned the type of graphic violence pro wrestling has degenerated
into today.

It was that type of stance that spoke volumes of an incredible man who
was laid to rest yesterday at age 88.

Pioneering the type of hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that have
become city trademarks, Stu took pride in producing a family show that
became a staple in Calgary for decades.

An icon, whose teachings (read: tortures) in his basement dungeon
developed some of the biggest names wrestling has ever seen, perhaps
Stu's greatest ability was remaining a common man.

His greatest accomplishment was unquestionably his family. 

Like those who faced him in the ring, Stu was both respected and
feared by his 12 children. Despite driving up to 3,000 km a week
across the prairies to run his wrestling loop, the man always put a
priority on rushing home to prepare meals for his eight sons and four
daughters. All the while, he taught them the importance of "aiming
high and shooting straight."

Ask people like Ralph Klein, John Helton, Stan Schwartz, Frank Sisson,
Chris Benoit or Vince McMahon, who attended yesterday's packed
proceedings -- Stu's word was his bond.

A man equally as adept at wrestling and promoting as he was at setting
his wife Helen's hair or grocery shopping and cooking for the dozens
who gathered at the house every Sunday night, Stu turned a tragic
childhood of poverty into a life of fame and fortune.

Two years ago he lost Helen, at which time he stood at her funeral and
said he'd "never get over this -- I don't have enough time."

His funeral was much more of a celebration of a life well-lived -- one
son Bret remembers ending every night with "12 little voices crying in
the dark, saying 'I love you, Dad.' "

As immense as his chest was, it was the heart inside it that made him
a bigger man than most.

One way or another, he had a way of making a profound impact on
everyone around him. Some remember him from the Pavilion, some for his
handshake, some for his hospitality and some who were lucky enough to
be his friend.

Me? I'll remember the blood. 

And the tears that flowed freely when it was time to say goodbye to a
legend in every sense of the word.