The Bob-Lo amusement park was saddened to hear of the death of Captain Bob-Lo, Joe Short, on Christmas Eve of 1974 at age 90.

Mr. Short had been recruited from Ringling Brothers Circus several years earlier by Bob-Lo to provide entertainment as the boats were being loaded.  He would work whenever the mood struck him, and he was a true professional at his craft: absolutely no one dared tell him how to go about his work.

Children were the specialty of the 4′ 4″ entertainer, who would also play one of Santa’s elves at the old Kern’s Department store in Detroit. 

When initially admitted as a patient, he received no visitors. Word quickly spread of this and hundreds of well-wishers would end up mobbing the hospital he was staying at.  The Detroit Fire Department’s auxillary clown unit acted as his pallbearers at his funeral.