An Empty Space in the Locker Room

If there is such a thing as a Hall of Fame for sports bar owners, it's pretty safe to say that Marilyn "Merl" Gehner would be a first-ballot entry in the original class of inductees.

Gehner passed away recently after a battle with cancer. She was 76. Merl and her family founded in Florissant in 1979, and they owned the popular family hangout for the next 21 years.

I recall Merl showing me the blue prints to the place in her basement. I met the Gehner family when I first started dating my wife and, in full disclosure, two of my four children worked at The Locker Room when Merl owned the sports pub.

She had big plans for herself and her three girls, Andrea, Alecia and Alanna, to put The Locker Room on the sports bar map in St. Louis when the concept was in its early stages.

There was also room for husband Bob "Bevo" Gehner, the former Beaumont basketball star of the 1950s. He served as the unofficial host of the place. Bevo couldn't really work at the bar since he was employed by Anheuser-Busch.

The combination of Merl and Bevo made the place a hit. Both were former amateur athletes. Bevo played basketball until recently for numerous clubs, and Merl was a standout at St. Alphonsis-Rock High School and later played semiprofessional ball at Sherman Park.

The business plan was simple and grassroots. Merl wanted sports fans of all sorts and families to frequent the Gehner venture.

Sure, there was room for the hard-core sports fan and the local high school and grade school team to relax after a game, watch a game on the big screen TV, socialize and generally have a great time.

Merl was the perfect host, and she made sure her customers had a great time every time they walked in the door.

The place was decorated with sports pictures and memorabilia, but they also had the clientele to boast.

Since the girls went to , most coaches from North and frequented the bar. Add teams from nearly every North County catholic grade school, and you can imagine the crowd on weekends.

Professional sports figures were regular customers. Bevo met former Boston pitcher Al Nipper through a mutual friend, and he was known to bring teammate Roger Clemens in for the chicken wings that Merl perfected with her secret recipe.

Pro soccer and football players also called the Locker Room home, and that list included former Detroit Lions lineman Don Greco.

Merl didn't stop pleasing the sports fan at the bar. At one time, The Locker Room sponsored 14 softball, two basketball and three indoor soccer teams.

There were also annual Spring Training trips sponsored by the bar and Cardinal Travel, with owners and former Cardinal players Dal Maxvill and Joe Hoerner. Merl and Bob developed relationships with former managers Red Schoendienst and Whitey Herzog.

With the Locker Room flourishing through the years, sports bars of all types started to pop up in the area. They tried to copy the formula, but every attempt missed a key ingredient, the Merl Gehner personality.

When Merl sold the place about 11 years ago to Tim Tucker and his wife, Sue, they left it in good hands.

The Locker Room still has some traits of Merl Gehner and those blue prints I looked at a long time ago.