JIMMY DISBROW
Passed Away
We are all saddened by this news.
Below is an email sent via Valerie Powell of USFSA HQ
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Colorado Springs
October 17, 2002
It is with deepest regret and sorrow that we inform you of the death of our good friend and past president of the United States Figure Skating Association,
JIMMY DISBROW
He passed away yesterday morning after a courageous fight with cancer. He will be missed by our entire skating family.
The memorial service is scheduled for this Saturday, October 19, 2002, at the Colonial Church in Edina, MN. Please hold his family in your hearts and prayers - his wife, Dede; daughter Devon; and son, Carl.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
The Jimmy and Dede Disbrow Skating Foundation
%Carefree Capital, Suite #700
Minneapolis, MN 55416
Cards of Sympathy:
The Disbrow Family
6401 Willow Wood Road
Edina, MN 55436
A little more information for you regarding the passing away to-day of Jim Disbrow.
The decision was reached as a family this summer that with the re-occurence of more tumors and Jims weakened
body that the time had come to no longer seek medical aid but to enjoy the time that was left to the fullest. He and Dede had
a wonderful summer at their home with many visits by friends and family. Rita and I spent a couple of long weekends , our son Scott ,the co-founder with Jim of the BWS chain visited many time s as did out daughter Kristan,,Jims former pair partner Katie{Walker}Baxter ,,Dedes good friend Libby and all of Dede and Jims Mnpls friends were also part of this group and ESPECIALLY Teri Tucker,a nd Joan Orvis who were always on call on the good and bad days.
Jim had been in a coma since Sun.and morphine was a blessing .To-nite ,having just talked to Dede they will be
celebrating his life for the next few days with a memorial service at their Church,The Colonial Church in Edina,Mnpls . on Sat at 2.00pm . A memorial fund has been arranged in lieu of flowers...It is called the" Jim and Dede Skaters Fund and details will follow.
Dede is in pretty good shape and has her 2 wonderful children Devon and Karl as great support at this time.
Regards Dave Lowery
Tip of the hat to Chuck De More!
Many thanks for sharing.
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles De More [mailto:CADEMORE@AOL.COM]
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 11:19 AM
To: Skating-News-Owner@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Star Tribune Article
This article from the Star Tribune has been sent to you by Charles De
More.
Charles De More wrote these comments: Tom,
I thought you shouls have this obituary.
Chuck De More
BYLINE: Trudi Hahn
CREDITLINE: Star Tribune
HEADLINE: Obituary: Jim Disbrow, who launched a restaurant chain and
served the U.S. figure-skating community, dies at 54
When Jim Disbrow got hungry for chicken wings he started a restaurant
chain, but his passion was given to figure skating.
Disbrow, a cofounder of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., spent four decades
associated with the sport, including responsibilities during the 1994
criminal drama involving Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. He died
Wednesday of brain cancer at his home in Edina. He was 54. Born in
Owensboro, Ky., Disbrow moved to Cincinnati at age 11 to live with his
figure-skating coaches, David and Rita Lowery, and an extended family of
skaters, said his daughter, Devon Hensel of Minneapolis.
He competed in singles and pairs in the 1960s, winning silver medals in
the junior divisions of each event. He also toured professionally for
two years with the Holiday on Ice show. In the early 1980s, he and the
Lowerys' son, Scott, whom he considered a brother, were looking for
chicken wings one night in Columbus, Ohio, and could find no restaurants
that served them, his daughter said. With no restaurant experience, they
started Buffalo Wild Wings. The business had grown to 40 locations
nationwide in 1996 when Disbrow, by his own admission not a careful
businessman, left his posts of president and CEO. He continued as
chairman of the board until his death. Meanwhile, Disbrow had
reencountered Dede Hensel, a Twin Cities skating coach. They had been
young competitors together in the 1960s, and in 1992 he moved his
business headquarters from Ohio to the Twin Cities and married her.
About that time, he reached the national-competition level as a judge
for the U.S. Figure Skating Association, said figure-skating judge Janet
Allen Carpenter of Minnetonka. He later reached the international level
for singles and ice dancing.
"But he would judge any level of test," including children's
competitions at Twin Cities ice rinks, she said. "He was willing to do
whatever was needed." In 1994, that meant anxious moments as the
chairman of the association's international committee, which had
named Kerrigan and Harding to the Olympic team headed to Lillehammer,
Norway. In an unfolding drama, Harding admitted that she had withheld
information about a Jan. 6 attack on Kerrigan.
Harding's admission "gave us that momentum to start up the
investigation, to begin the process our organization needs to be a
guiding force," Disbrow had said. First alternate Michelle Kwan, then
13, waited in the wings, but Harding sued the U.S. Olympic Committee,
which had ultimate authority, and was allowed to compete.
In 1998, Disbrow was team manager of the U.S. figure-skating team that
competed in the Olympics in Nagano, Japan. "Michelle Kwan was especially
fond of him, and Nicole Bobeck," Devon Hensel said. Being team manager
is "a huge job," said Allen Carpenter. "You're like a parent, a
coach, a support system." After Nagano came the World Figure Skating
Championships in Minneapolis. Chairman Disbrow had worked on the event
since 1996. Several Olympic champions skipped it. "At no time did Jim
ever lose his enthusiasm, passion or commitment," said Karyn Gruenberg
of the Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association. "He
always had a smile on his face." Also in 1998 he was elected U.S. Figure
Skating Association president, and his brain cancer was diagnosed a
short time later. People with his advanced level of cancer usually live
nine months to a year after the diagnosis, said his daughter, but he
lived 4 1/2 more years. In addition to his wife and daughter, survivors
include a son, Carl Hensel; and a brother, David Disbrow of Oklahoma
City. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Colonial Church of
Edina, 1600 Colonial Way.