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| I WAS THERE WHEN RAY GUNKEL DIED
May 1, 2003 – Dick Steinborn In a taped-fist match, Ray Gunkel’s heart was bruised so severely from a blow administered by the awkward Ox Baker. I was on the beach in Savannah that afternoon with my two daughters, and ran into Ray and his two children at a favorite spot that the boys used to go to each week. I took the last photo of Ray standing on the beach, holding his two children in his arms. It happened to be the last photo in my camera to be taken. Ray took his vacationing family that fateful afternoon to a favorite eating establishment called the Boarding House. The table was loaded with food, and most wrestlers believed that Ray just ate too much before his match. I left the arena with my children that evening, only to be chased down by two detectives, telling me that Ray was taken to the hospital. When I got there, I was told Ray had died. Then, in walks his wife, not yet knowing the news. She rushed to me, grabbing my hand, looking for assurance that Ray was alright. I said nothing. A detective escorted us to an elevator, where he had told Ann Gunkel that Ray was upstairs. In that elevator ride, Ann asked the detective, “Is Ray alright?” “Fine,” said the detective. When the elevator opened, three nurses approached us, one carrying a hypodermic needle, hidden behind her back, the other two with water and pills. As we met in the middle of the dark room, the detective spun Ann around and said, “I’m sorry to inform you that your husband was D.O.A.” Bang! She hit the floor and dragged me down with her. All of our emotions flowed with tears at such a great loss. Thirty minutes later, when she was allowed to view the body, Ann asked me to go with her. When we entered the room, Ray was on a stainless steel table, with a sheet up to his chest. She asked me to get a pillow. While she lifted his head, I slipped the pillow underneath his head. I’ll never forget her words. She said, “Oh, Ray, with all our money, it wont help”. It was an end of an era, and a beginning of a new wrestling empire to control the Atlanta office. |