The wake for Douglas Gentry will take place at St. Christopher Church on Thursday February 1, 2007 from 9:30am to 10:30am.
St. Christopher Church
13301 Proctor Road
Philadelphia, PA 19116
After the wake there will be a church mass at 10:30am, followed by the funeral at Resurrection Cemetery on 5201 Hulmeville Rd, Cornwells Heights, PA 19020. Everyone will travel to the cemetary together from the Church.
All wrestlers and fan's are welcomed to join us.
Directions:
From New Jersey Turnpike/Pennsylvania Turnpike to St. Christopher Church:
1. Follow the New Jersey Turnpike to Exit 6.
2. Exit 6 turns into the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
3. Take Exit 351 on the PA Turnpike (US-1 S).
4. Make a slight right onto Roosevelt Boulevard.
5. Make a right onto Byberry Road.
6. Make a right onto Proctor Road.
From I-95 to St. Christopher Church:
1. From I-95 north or south take Exit 35 (Woodhaven Road).
2. Merge onto Woodhaven Road W.
3. Make a left onto Evans St.
4. Make a right onto Byberry Road.
5. Make a right onto Proctor Road.
I once again want to thank everyone who has reached out to Doug's family and the entire RF VIDEO Staff over the last three days. I don't think Doug know's (I dont want to say past tense) how many people love him. I sat and read what everyone had to say about Doug as it brought a constant flow of tears to my face. Everyone hit the nail on the head about Doug. What you saw with Doug at shows is what the real life Doug was. There was no other side to Doug. I have been sitting around just thinking about all the amazing times that we had in life and they are endless.
He was a very laid back kind of guy too. He never cared about the spotlight. He never wanted his name over anything he did. He was just so happy to be apart of anything that we did.
I want it to be known right now that Doug Gentry helped make RF VIDEO into what it is. If it was not for Doug there would be no RF VIDEO. His ideas were endless and I can't thank him enough for helping the company become what it is today. Doug was way smarter than me when it came to alot of variables. He could get us to any town no matter, what state or country we were in. I will never forget the time we were in Japan in the subway system and Doug only being in Tokyo for a few days knew how to get around. That is how smart he was. Im talking about a zillion trains running and Doug knew what ones to get on. When we were on the road with ECW he was the human map. If we went to Chicago for the first time, it did not matter. Doug knew where he was going. There were times we did get lost but Doug would NEVER ask for directions. We would often tease him and be like just pull over and ask someone, but Doug would get us there somehow. The one funny thing that Doug did was that he would always pull into a venue the wrong way. We would all yell "Doug just pull up to the door that way." Doug seemed to always find the wrong driveway or always park the furthest from the venue. I am lauging as I type this because its so true and I can see the everyone in the truck yelling at him and he would get all fustrated.
Another funny story was when we went to Mexico for the very first time. We were down in Texas for Shawn Michaels TWA shows. We had some free time and we crossed the border into Mexico. It was our first time ever being in Mexico. On the way back we got pulled over at the border and when the border patrol guy was asking us if we were both American's I replied "si" Of course that got us pulled over and they made us take out everything in our car so they could see if we were smuggling drugs over the border. Doug was furious at me for doing so. So when we went to Mexico again in CA to see AAA in TJ we were crossing the border once again. I totally ribbed Doug and told him what I was going to do. I had these huge plaster animals that I bought off the street. I kept telling Doug that when we got to the border I was going to tell them what ever u do don't check inside the plasted fish. Doug was so paranoid as we got closer and closer to the guards. Of course I did not say a word and we passed with no problems.
Doug was also the brunt of many road jokes. We would get bored and Tajiri and some of us would constantly pick on him but it was all in good spirits. I could just see his facials as he would be like yea ok guys enough....One weekend I missed the double shot and I guess the guys were calling him Virgil all weekend in the car. Virgil drive us there and Virgil drive faster. They pushed his buttons so much, that on Monday I called him Virgil as that was the running rib and he pulled the drivers mirror off of the car. I will miss going to places with him like Florida and just going to get food only to find out Doug would not have money. He would always ask to borrow money even though he just got paid a few days before. You can always be sure that Doug would pick some of your left over food with his fingers and not use a fork. That is just classic Doug.
I wish I could be the person that Doug is to this day. He was just so giving. When we would go to stores he was the type who would start a conversation with the check out lady even if he did not know her. Everyone loved Doug at my bank. I would often go there and the ladies would always tell me that Doug would always put over his 5 dogs. He loved these dogs to death. He had his own nicknames for each of them and would often make up songs about the dogs. My one dog has been sleeping by Doug's room for 3 days waiting for him to come out. Today I went into Dougs room just to look for some pictures of him for his service. I was in there for only a few minutes before I found a music CD called, "Songs to Make Dogs Happy." I could not stop lauging because I never seen this CD ever. I never heard him play it either, but its so fN hilarious that he would even have a CD like this. I could picture him playing it to the 5 dogs. He loved his dog cocoa so much and I can tell you that Cocoa was Dougs protector. You could never step near Doug without her growling.
Another thing that I am going to miss is getting drunk or going to clubs with Doug. He was by far my guardian. I knew with Doug I could get totally out of hand and he would be there to pick up the peices. I am going to miss the car rides where I would be drunk and I would be calling everyone on my cell phone list and Doug trying to grab the phone out of my hands telling me I was being stupid as I was cutting promos. I will miss calling Dreamer on the phone drunk with Doug always yelling in the background, "Hey TOMMY."
Doug also could tell you the dates for any wrestling shows that he ever went to. He knew every town that we would go to for ECW to this day. He could remember most of the cards as well. He knew everything about wrestling in Japan. Even to this day he would know everyone that worked over there as he loved his Japan tapes. I am happy that he got to meet his idol Hayabusa over the summer.
I keep on thinking over and over how strange it is going to be for myself to go to any shows without Doug there. I am always going to be looking for him at ringside. I will always be looking for his AJ Styles shirt that he would wear to every show. Im going to miss after every show going to him "why didnt you label the tapes." Then on Monday it would take another 2 days of asking Doug to find the tapes in his messy bathroom. Of course he would find them but it was always the same routin.
The other funny thing about Doug was he was NEVER on time. Again this is actually making me laugh for the first time in a few days. If we had a interview to go to or a show he would NEVER be on time. So I learned a new system that I just started to use. It took over 10 years for me to figure out, but I would push the time up a hour for no matter what function we had. Sometimes we would get there early and he would than go where is he? I would tell him I guess they were late. I am going to miss going to Wendy's in NJ before every NJ or NY show with him. I am going to miss Doug driving back at 3AM listening to sportstalk and telling us that there was nothing else good on the radio. I am going to miss going to shows and watching all the guys flock to Doug and just seeing Doug have that huge smile on his face knowing he was liked by everyone. He was always the last person to leave alot of the venues because he would talk to everyone and never blew anyone off.
Doug was one of a kind. He was a friend, teacher, mentor, guardian and a angel. I don't want anyone to ever forget him. If you met him and had a chance to talk to him you know what I am talking about. We are going to dedicate anything that we do in the future all to him. We want him to be proud of the company that he started.
Thank you Doug for everything you did and I can't wait to see you again soon. You will always be the man.
your best friend
Rob
