Robalee Setters
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I am writing this series of articles to, somehow, save memories about my father and mother and their place in history in the "Dog World".
When my father, Gerry, got out of the US Navy in 1945, he worked his ass off to provide for his family and get an education. He went to many schools, but he called William and Mary (of Virginia) his alma mater.
He took many jobs: from being an engineer to Test Pilot, from Quality Control Engineer to upper management in aerospace companies. Between career jobs, he worked as a gas station attendant and being the captain of his own commercial tuna fishing boat; the "Ida Mae II". He took many jobs because that is what fathers do to care for their family.
I will try to add other stories about him as I go but that will be for later.
While working for Huggins Laboratories in Hollister Ca in the later 1950's, he traveled a lot between northern and southern California facilities. He was making quite a few trips per month for Huggins. My mother, Shirlee, started having anxiety attacks whenever my dad would travel south. Consequently, my dad started taking her with him. He went to the company management and brokered a deal: instead of driving from Hollister to San Jose, flying to Los Angeles, and then driving to Riverside, my dad would simply (?) drive from Hollister to Riverside via the Pacheco Pass. Please remember that this was at a time before Highway 152 became a real highway. (For those of you who have never driven across Pacheco Pass, it gets up to a hundred degrees plus in the summer and the pass is often closed each winter due to snow.) Driving 350+/- miles still cut three to four hours off the HLI-SJC-LAX-RIV trip, and he could take Mom with him. The per diem mileage paid for a brand new Thunderbird in less than a year (and expenses) AND he saved the company money.
He made many trips in the T-bird with the top down and Mom with her headscarf . They would stop at Casa-de-Fruit on the way down and Bakersfield on the way back for lunch or dinner.
Somewhere along the way, Gerry picked up a nasty virus of some kind and went a-bed for several months. While he was down, several of his friends and colleagues at Huggins contracted the something similar, and several died.
While he was recuperating, my folks thought it would be a good idea to get a companion dog. They investigated many possibilities and thought: if a dog, why not the best? Mom's grandparents had owned Irish Setters; question one answered.
After much researching in AKC Journals (and some serious computer time using IBM punch cards), they decided to get a Thenderin-bred Irish Setter. Gerry got his companion, and so started the "Robalee-Thenderin" Irish Setter breeding program.
After several months of "getting well" Pop put on his business suit and got ready to go back to work. According to my Mom, he got as far as the car when he returned to the house crying and said, "I can't do this!"
After a meeting between our family attorney ("Uncle Stanley"), Mom and Pop, he put in for disability and went into semi-retirement. They bought several other males and female Irish Setters and continued to breed Irish Setters, using the "Robalee Setter" name. "Robalee" is a portmanteau of "Rob-" from Roberts and "Lee" from Shirlee.
To make ends meet, he would work on Sports cars in his garage and backyard. Before he got sick, Gerry was an avid Sports Car racer. During this down time, He repaired and race prepped Triumph sports cars.
The backyard started looking like a parking lot for British sports cars. Pop decided to start a sports car repair business on De Anza Boulevard at Rainbow Drive in Cupertino. Mom, as she often does, suggested a name: "Automobilia".
Main article: Race car
Several months later, CalTrans (California Dept of Transportation) decided they needed the ground under his shop to make an on-ramp from Highway 85 to De Anza Boulevard. Again a meeting between Mom, Pop, and Stan.
Kahluah (sic) Kennels on Mathilda Boulevard in Sunnyvale was in danger of being forcibly closed by the County for multiple problems and violations. My parents took over the kennel. Now they had a new home and kennel space for all of their Irish Setters.
A few years later, my father and mother bought Robalee Kennels in Mountain View from David and Barbara Packard of Varian / HP fame. They expanded their breeding line to include English, Irish, and Gordon setters and German Short haired pointers. Barbie, AKC registered name "American and Canadian Champion Gemody's Barbie Gal of Robalee" became my companion (Stories to be added later.)
They bred over 250 AKC Champion setters. At one invitational show at "The Cow Palace" in San Francisco, there were 63 setters entered: 58 were Robalee Setters. They exported setters all over the world. After years of inbreeding in Australia, the "Aussie Setters" no longer conformed to Kennel Club standards. Several Robalee Irish Setters were exported to Australia to "help improve the breed base line".
They also bred German Short haired pointers. One of these pointers and then her grand-daughter both won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show.
Pop bought an old Dodge RV and stripped the interior to the chassis. He rebuilt it into what became the "Mobile Kennel". He would drive to most of the West Coast dog shows, taking dogs and dog food to the shows and bringing dogs and medals home.
I installed mobile radios in the RV and the Kennel so he and Mom could communicate with one another.
If you have a few hours, do a Google search for "Robalee Setters"
They lived and worked together, all of their lives, until their deaths at Robalee Kennels.
I was there for each of them, as they were there for me.
| Draft 3, 12/19/2020 |
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