In Tribute To New England Basketball Legend Bobby Szklarz
1947–2023
By Dan Doyle
In June 1963, at age 14, I had the great good fortune of being teamed up in the St. Peter’s Chi Rho summer basketball league with two of the finest players in Central Massachusetts history, Bobby Szklarz and Paul Stukowski. Nine months later, Bobby and Paul would help lead St. Mary’s High to the New England Championship, a feat fondly and forever juxtaposed by Worcester Hoops Mavens with Holy Cross winning both the 1947 NCAA and the 1954 NIT Championships.
Over the course of that summer of ’63, my dad became a great admirer of both Bobby and Paul, citing not only their superior court skills, but mannerly ways. Dad also developed a strong bond with Mr. Irving Conner who, along with his wife, Adeline, selflessly raised Bobby after the untimely deaths of Bobby’s parents, Stanley and Helen. On several occasions, dad spoke to me about this admirable union.
My dad was not the only Doyle family member who revered Bobby Szklarz. Years later, my late Father-In-Law, Bob Butler, then Superintendent of Worcester Vocational Schools, told me of his great regard for Bobby, as both an exceptional Voke teacher and splendid human being.
In the early 2000’s, Bobby and Paul would both be inducted into our New England Basketball Hall Of Fame, Bobby as a member of the glittering first induction class, joining the likes of Bob Cousy, Calvin Murphy and Jimmy Walker as Gold Star honorees.
As the decades passed, Bobby and I stayed in regular touch. In late 2020, when the New England Basketball Hall Of Fame decided to launch our publication, “The Basketball Bugle” on Medium, I asked Bobby if he would assist with storyline ideas. Bobby accepted and this commitment not only led to countless and most pleasant conversations, but on June 30, 2021, Bobby, Paul and anther Eagles Star, Al Stazinski, each presented their all-opponent teams in a widely praised piece on “The Basketball Bugle”.
I have many treasured memories of my friendship with Bobby, including one special recollection.
In the summer of 1964, but months after the St. Mary’s Coronation at the Boston Garden, I was privileged to be serving as Buster Sheary’s personal assistant at the Worcester Academy Summer Sports Camp. One day, after spending the early afternoon at Gaskill Field, situated several blocks from the Worcester Academy campus, and with me in tow, Buster pulled his white Dodge into a parking space adjacent to the Worcester Academy athletic facility. We both spotted Bobby, gym bag in right hand, heading toward the door that led to the W. A. gymnasium, home court to the famous and ferocious post camp three-on-three games.
Motioning in Bobby’s direction, Mr. Sheary said, “Danny, Bobby Sklarz…now there’s a role model if there ever was one. Remember that!”
As always, Mr. Sheary was spot on.
RIP Dear Friend.
