Lifelong Bucyrus barber Bob Keller hangs up the shears just shy of his 88th birthday

Bob Keller remembers a time when Bucyrus needed two dozen full-time barbers to keep up with everyone's haircuts.

But that was parts of seven decades ago, before some of the town's senior citizens were even born.

"There's not very many anymore," Keller said. "Ain't like it used to be."

In fact, he's one of only two barbers still practicing in Bucyrus, part-time.

That's why, after 63 years in the business, he has decided to close Keller's Barbershop, a quaint nook on Poplar Street. His last day is Tuesday. His birthday is the following week − he turns 88 on Aug. 24.

"I’m probably old enough it won't matter if I quit," Keller said. "People aren’t dedicated like they used to be. I guess that's the word. They just go someplace else."

'I had the GI Bill, so I signed up for barber school'

He's had thousands of customers over the years, many of them sons and grandsons of his earliest patrons.

The barber said he's enjoyed it "most of the time."

Oddly enough, the city's icon came upon both the profession and Bucyrus by accident.

Keller grew up in Morrow County between Sparta and Marengo. He played basketball and baseball in high school, then, in 1953, joined the army.

He returned home from the military and worked a few short jobs. Then, a man invited him to Toledo to join his painting crew.

"He told me he had all kinds of work," Keller recalled. "Five days later, we were out of work. It was over."

He decided then and there that job security was of the utmost importance. He looked around and discovered he could learn to cut hair just down the street from where he was staying.

"I had the GI Bill, so I signed up for barber school," Keller said.

While in school, he got an apprenticeship in Bucyrus.

Had Keller not been lured to Toledo for the painting gig, he doesn't think he would ever become a barber, or moved to Crawford County.

"Probably not," he said. "Chances are I wouldn't have."

'I had to buy it with somebody'

The barber business was busy in the late 1950s and Keller knew he could get a job anywhere people grew hair, which was everywhere.

He spent nearly two years learning from Harry Christman in downtown Bucyrus. Then, in 1960, he and Al Wiseman decided to go in half each and buy the shop.

"I was still an apprentice, so I had to buy it with somebody else," Keller said.

After a few years, Keller bought Wiseman out and changed the name to Keller's Barbershop.

His first order of business was to do a little redecorating. He took out a large sink that once sat in the center of the barbershop and installed smaller ones for each barber to use.

He eventually replaced the old chairs with two others he still refers to as the "new chairs." An inscription underneath shows they were made in 1967.

'Lots of memories up here'

The inside of the barbershop hasn't changed much since those updates more than a half century ago.

A sign on the wall says: "Haircuts, $11. Beard trim, $6."

The prices are about the only thing that changes around the shop anymore. Even that rarely happens.

"I think they were a buck 25 when I started here," Keller said. "Maybe a $1.50. I'm not sure. It was every couple of years before it would go up a quarter."

The barber and his wife, Helen, soon had two children in their new hometown: Connie Kiser, born in 1962, and Jay in '64.

The barbershop's price list was one of the things Jay noticed most when he was a little boy.

"You could see where he'd erased it and had the new price wrote out," Jay said.

Since he was the barber's son, Jay knew to always keep still in his dad's chair. Some of his friends, though, weren't so wise.

To remedy the problem of fidgeting children, the elder Keller acquired a fake rubber ear that he would keep between his scissors and comb.

Jay always enjoyed watching his dad reach for the fake ear.

"He’d have some kid sitting in the chair and he'd get the fake ear out and act like he cut the kid’s ear off and he’d drop it on the floor or in his lap," Jay said. "Lots of memories up here."

No matter how much the kids moved, they always got a sucker when Keller finished their haircut.

"Where are your suckers?" Jay asked while he and his dad were in mid-laugh.

"I don't have anymore." They suddenly remembered an era was ending.

'It's going to be a big difference'

Keller only plans to work a few hours Tuesday. A few old friends plan to stop in and reminisce.

The most notable visitor Tuesday will be a man named Donovan Scott.

"That's the gentleman he gave his first haircut to when he came to town," Jay explained. "Now he will be his last haircut."

Once the door closes, Keller plans to start hauling away memories.

"I already sold the building," he said.

There were never any grand plans or meanings behind working until the age of 88.

Any plans he did have changed in 2012 when Heled died at the age of 76.

"No reason to stay home," Keller said. "Just keep going to work."

He does have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so there will be plenty of family activities waiting to keep the beloved barber busy in retirement.

Still, the world's a little different than it was in the 1950s, the last time Keller was unemployed.

"It's going to be a big difference for me, that's for sure," he said. "I might go fishing, I don't know."

ztuggle@gannett.com

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Twitter: @zachtuggle

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Bob Keller closing Bucyrus barbershop after six decades of clipping