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- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia, Sunday, June 29, 2003
Robert Stanley Bass
Bob Bass helped introduce youth soccer to Atlanta.
In 1967, members of the Atlanta Chiefs professional soccer team moved into the Williamsburg Village apartment complex where Mr. Bass lived and introduced him to a sport he -- and most Atlantans -- knew little about.
He grew so enthusiastic that he proposed a youth soccer league with the local YMCA, said his son, Mark Stanley Bass of Duluth. "He started signing up kids in his apartment, not expecting many takers. They lined up outside the hallway, down the steps and across the street. The league started in 1968 with 710 boys."
It evolved into the independent Greater Atlanta Youth Soccer League, with Mr. Bass as president.
Mr. Bass even took to the air, appearing as Uncle Bob on the popular children's TV show "Popeye Club" to promote his soccer league. He also took a job as promotional manager for the Atlanta Chiefs, which won the North American Soccer League championship in 1968.
Robert Stanley Bass, 67, died Thursday of a heart attack at his Smyrna residence. The funeral is 2 p.m. today at Castellaw Funeral Home.
After the Chiefs folded in 1972, Mr. Bass was hired by radio station WIIN 970 AM as a salesman. "At the time, it was a Top 40 station, and Father convinced the owners they should switch to rock to compete with 96 Rock on the FM band," said his son. "The move was so successful they promoted him to general manager."
After two years at the station, Mr. Bass managed his wife, country singer Debi Bass, and her Pure Dynamite Band, in which his son played guitar. They opened at major music parks throughout the Southeast.
Mr. Bass was inducted into the Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
Christmas was a special occasion for Mr. Bass. "He had 25 Christmas trees which went up in September and didn't come down until the end of January," said his son. "You could read a book by the Christmas lights. He collected Santa Clauses, of which he had more than 2,000."
Mr. Bass shared his Christmas cheer with those less fortunate. In the early 1980s, he began buying gifts for "retarded adults and homeless families," said his son. The project grew, and American Legion Post 1 in Midtown became a sponsor. He continued annually until the late 1990s.
"He truly was everyone's Santa Claus," said his daughter-in-law, Toni Bass.
Others survivors include two sisters, Nancy Crider of Marietta and Joan Heim of Valdosta; a granddaughter and a grandson.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1935 - 2003 (67 years)