Following up from yesterday's #365daysofkegelhd post, here is another piece about Bob that was published locally this week in 2001.
Bob Kegel's Death Saddens Rockford
Motorcyclists throughout the Rockford area were deeply saddened following Labor Day to learn of Bob Kegel's death at age 81. Bob was the Number One man at the internationally known Kegel Motorcycle Co. in Rockford, the oldest continuous dealership of union/American-made Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Bob was raised in a motorcycle home. His dad was the late Joe Kegel, who brought Harley-Davidsons to Rockford from Freeport in 1923 following World War I. Many remember Joe's shop in the 100 block of N. Madison St.
Photos above are of Bob in earlier years... the top one made when Bob was 17 and ready to depart on his 1937 Harley "61" to Canada for a three-week trip accompanied by friend Speed Wantz. Lower photo shows Bob in later years astride a 1993 Harley.
Bob died content to know that the business he and his dad kept going and growing for so many years will be in the caring hands of his children, their spouses and grandchildren. That meant a lot to Bob. Final arrangements by Fitzgerald & Associates Funeral Home, 11 a.m. Mass at Holy Family Church on Friday, with a motorcycle procession escort to Calvary Cemetery.
#kegel365 #harleydavidson #kegelhd #worldsoldest