MORGANTOWN, Ind. (WTHR) - Central Indiana is mourning the loss of a children's television icon.
Bob Glaze, better known as "Cowboy Bob," passed away Friday afternoon. Family members say he had been struggling with a heart condition.
He was 73 years old.
If you were a kid in the 70 and 80's, you probably learned a thing or two from "Cowboy Bob". Before he became a beloved television personality for thousands of Central Indiana kids, though, Glaze was a camera man on the show of another well loved Indiana television icon.
"He was just very dear to me, and also he had such corny jokes," laughed Janie Hodge in the living room of her Indianapolis home.
Janie, of the "Popeye and Janie Show", was already a household name with WTTV viewers when she helped discover Bob, inviting him to sing on her show.
"He always said that to people. You know, 'This is the reason I'm here.' Of course, we did it together," said Hodge of how Glaze would credit her with helping him get his start.
Together, the two started appearing at big events around Central Indiana. A parade in Columbus, Indiana though, sealed the deal.
"For some reason, they put on the convertible 'Janie and Cowboy Bob.' He was never Cowboy Bob at that point and he said, 'Well I like that,'" Hodge recalled.
The folks at WTTV liked it, too. Soon after, Cowboy Bob got his own show, "Chuckwagon Theater."
Janie and "Cowboy Bob" even went on to record a Christmas album together.
"I had a little baby by that time and my husband was in school, and so the baby was asleep. Charlie was gone and Bob and I were singing on the couch," said Hodge of working on the album together.
After their shows went off the air, Hodge and Glaze stayed in touch, appearing at events together a few times a year.
Last year, Glaze was there when Hodge was inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.
"We were supposed to be in a parade the first of October at the fall foliage," said Hodge of an upcoming appearance they had scheduled together.
The last time Hodge saw Glaze was at the Indiana State Fair.
"He was his usual funny self and was kidding around with everybody," remembered Hodge.
That's why Saturday morning's call, when Hodge learned her friend had passed, was so heartbreaking.
"It's hard to put into words, what I felt," said Hodge who is trying to focus on the memories. She's got so many to choose from.
"I will certainly always remember what good times we had," said Hodge.
