Passing of a Great - Robert Hempel - Fellini

B

BarTableMan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It is with great sorrow that I inform you of the passing on of Robert Hempel today. Bob was 70 years old and fought the cancer fight. He was the creator of the Fellini cue case, a tennis coach, pool player, BCA instructor and my personal mentor and dearest friend. I will miss him with each game I play. Bob will miss his days in the pool hall, as well as his close pool family . . . Stan, Lou, Jeff, Gary, JC, Steve, Jean, Belinda and myself as well as many others.

Marty Kaczmarowski
 
RIP, Bob....what an industry icon. Sounds like a fine man that many of us would have liked to have met. Godspeed.
 
BarTableMan said:
It is with great sorrow that I inform you of the passing on of Robert Hempel today. Bob was 70 years old and fought the cancer fight. He was the creator of the Fellini cue case, a tennis coach, pool player, BCA instructor and my personal mentor and dearest friend. I will miss him with each game I play. Bob will miss his days in the pool hall, as well as his close pool family . . . Stan, Lou, Jeff, Gary, JC, Steve, Jean, Belinda and myself as well as many others.

Marty Kaczmarowski
Click to expand...


Bob was a great guy and a real gentleman who was a pleasure to be around. A number of years ago we met over a game of 3C, at The Break, across the river from St. Louis, back when they had a billiard table. He had a notebook open and was practicing shots and it was so unusual to see someone play and taking it so seriously, I had to ask him to play. I didn't know who he was and at one point or another he shyly asked me if I'd ever heard of Fellini cases. I told him that everyone had heard of Fellini and that I still had a brown "rice pattern" Fellini in my closet that I had bought, probably back in the late 70's, and still treasured. He then told me who he was and, in a very modest way, seemed tickled that I knew who he was and about the cases he made.

Bob made his cases in Austin, Texas, and they were the penultimate case to own. Back in the 70’s and 80’s every player housed their cues in a Fellini, often one with elaborate tooling, or made of an exotic skin. His cases were so good that Gus Szamboti ordered them, often specifying cases that matched the design of one of his cues. Of course today, Fellini cases are highly prized by collectors, particularly to hold vintage cues.

One of the last times I saw Bob he went into his notebook and pulled out one of the original Fellini brochures from the 70‘s and asked if it would be something I’d like to keep. (I’m thinking everyone can guess my answer.) But that’s the way Bob was -- quiet, modest, generous, and a true gentleman.

Rest easy, Bob.

Lou Figueroa
 

Attachments

  • Fellini.jpg
    Fellini.jpg
    89.5 KB · Views: 812
Last edited:
My Szam rests today in one of his fine cases--it accents whats itside of it--both superbly
built..RIP Mr. Hempel
 
Too bad, my wife bought me one of his cases for my birthday many, many years ago. Wish I'd met him. RIP
 
Too bad.. great guy that saw and seized an opportunity. When an industry knows exactly what your product is and what to expect by saying ONE name, you really made something...



JV
 

Attachments

  • 3_fellini_logo.jpg
    3_fellini_logo.jpg
    74.4 KB · Views: 716
  • hoc_fellini.jpg
    hoc_fellini.jpg
    36.3 KB · Views: 688
Thank you for letting us know, Marty. He built a quality product and name brand that will live on with collectors.
 
I am saddened to hear of Bob's passing. A great innovator who made an impact on the game in his own way, he will be missed. His legacy will continue in our world of pool and billiards for many decades to come.

I will keep Bob's friends and loved ones in my thoughts and prayers.

RIP Bob,

Will Prout
 
Sorry to hear this, Bob was a good friend who always had time to discuss the numerous topics we both had interests in. First met him in the early 70's while I was attending UT at the legendary Moyers in Austin, TX.

I tried for years to get him back into making cases, but he would politely decline. Finally one year at the Texas Open, me, Joe Salazar, and Ron Geyer all got together and told him we would pay in advance. After a day or two, he relented, and we forked over some Benjamins for what might have been his last batch of cases.

RIP Bob....you will be dearly missed.
 
He Was A Gentlemen and a Scholar

I was stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois for 3 years around the turn of the millennia. At that point in my life, I had put down my pool cue. I was newly married and pool could barely even be seen in my rearview mirror. One day I was out and about with my new bride and I happened to be parked right near Brenden's Billiards in Fairview Heights, so I ventured inside to check it out. I just took a quick peak and all I saw were bar tables so I shuffled back out and left pool alone.

A couple of years rolled by and I was nearing the end of my enlistment and I started getting that itch. I decided to check Brenden's out again and low and behold there were a couple of 9 foot Diamond tables in the back. They were there all along! So I started playing pool again. After venturing in there a couple of times Bob saw me practicing some 14.1 break shots and he approached me, asking me if I enjoyed playing straight pool? I don't recall my exact response but I do remember seeing that he was interested in playing the game and so we began playing 14.1 regularly for the last couple of months of my Air Force career.

While we played he was always a gentleman. He was very kind to me and my young wife when she would come in there to get me.:grin-square: My wife even got to the point where she would come in and watch us play. She liked Bob. She hasn't done that with anybody else since.

He was really an interesting guy. We had some really thought provoking conversations about the game and about life. He taught me several things about pool in those couple of months that we played together. He didn't cram his knowledge about the game down my throat, but instead he just sat back and waited until he knew that I was puzzled about something. So at just the right point, he would give me a little tidbit about the game that would put me back on the right track.

At one point, I voiced how frustrated I was with the game and Bob with a slight smile and a calm voice told me something very simple yet profound. To this day, whenever I reach that boiling point where I'm ready to throw my cue against the wall I hear Bob's voice telling me, "Rome wasn't built in a day." I wanted to tell him that I was just trying to build a little village. I suppose he knows that now.

Thanks for the games Mr. Hempel and rest in peace.
 
Last edited:
BasementDweller said:
I was stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois for 3 years around the turn of the millennia. At that point in my life, I had put down my pool cue. I was newly married and pool could barely even be seen in my rearview mirror. One day I was out and about with my new bride and I happened to be parked right near Brenden's Billiards in Fairview Heights, so I ventured inside to check it out. I just took a quick peak and all I saw were bar tables so I shuffled back out and left pool alone.

A couple of years rolled by and I was nearing the end of my enlistment and I started getting that itch. I decided to check Brenden's out again and low and behold there were a couple of 9 foot Diamond tables in the back. They were there all along! So I started playing pool again. After venturing in there a couple of times Bob saw me practicing some 14.1 break shots and he approached me, asking me if I enjoyed playing straight pool? I don't recall my exact response but I do remember seeing that he was interested in playing the game and so we began playing 14.1 regularly for the last couple of months of my Air Force career.

While we played he was always a gentleman. He was very kind to me and my young wife when she would come in there to get me.:grin-square: My wife even got to the point where she would come in and watch us play. She liked Bob. She hasn't done that with anybody else since.

He was really an interesting guy. We had some really thought provoking conversations about the game and about life. He taught me several things about pool in those couple of months that we played together. He didn't cram his knowledge about the game down my throat, but instead he just sat back and waited until he knew that I was puzzled about something. So at just the right point, he would give me a little tidbit about the game that would put me back on the right track.

At one point, I voiced how frustrated I was with the game and Bob with a slight smile and a calm voice told me something very simple yet profound. To this day, whenever I reach that boiling point where I'm ready throw my cue against the wall I hear Bob's voice telling me, "Rome wasn't built in a day." I wanted to tell him that I was just trying to build a little village. I suppose he knows that now.

Thanks for the games Mr. Hempel and rest in peace.
Click to expand...

Nice post...
 
I hate to hear this. I remember talking to Bob about 10 or 15 years ago on the phone, seemed like a great guy and you could tell that he really loved the game.

I'm glad that he was able to see the sentimental impact and popularity of his cases after all these years.

RIP Bob....
 
Back when I first met Bob...

he and David Konarsky would run the tournaments at Eric's billiards in Austin, TX.
Bob was a great player and a teacher of the game. I learned some really valuable lessons from him about playing pool and how to conduct myself like a pro. I miss him, but will never forget him. It's been a year since his passing. I found this photo of him and wanted to share it.
 

Attachments

  • Bob Hempel.jpg
    Bob Hempel.jpg
    21 KB · Views: 271
Already a year....

Fellini cases can be summed up in a single word.... ICONIC...

Not bad for an extruded plastic tube and some leather... ;)

JV
 
Fellini cases definitely reached iconic status. Although Bob wasn't the originator of the design he certainly improved on what had come before him in a big way. The cases he made were sturdier and more protective inside and out. They were more durable as well which is why more of them have survived.

Bob made a point of advertising the heightened protection which I find admirable. With his team he crafted hundreds of unique cases. Most of which are locked safely away. Once in a while a new specimen will surface and we can admire again what Bob brought to the industry.

Without a doubt his efforts paved the way for Centennial, It's George, Schon Cases, the SuperMac, Ron Thomas, and of course his own protege' Ann Gore/Manx.

I personally feel fortunate to also be in that line with our GTF cases. I remember the first time I saw a Fellini and thinking I wonder how they did that. I have long considered this style of case to be one of the more difficult to do and especially hard to do it properly. Seems simple but nowhere to hide. Building in that style gives me so much appreciation for the pioneering work Bob did. I can say that for sure if I didn't have a Fellini to copy from then my work would have been much harder to achieve a credible case in that style.

Even though Bob is gone, his legacy is not. That's all I will say at this time. A year too late but godspeed Bob. You have long been an inspiration to me and I thank you for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top