After eight years of lounging on the couch, swimming in the pool and being a popular fixture in a Parma neighborhood, Rocky died Oct. 3 after a bout with cancer.
In this photo taken on Dec. 10, 2002, Michael Billy plays with Rocky, a Rottweiler around a year-old, as his wife Charlotte watches at their Parma home. "Whatever happened to . . .?" is a weekly series updating some of the most newsworthy and interesting local stories covered in The Plain Dealer. Have a suggestion on a story we should update? Send it to John C. Kuehner at jkuehner@plaind.com.
Today, we answer these questions:
Whatever Happened to . . .
. . . . . . Rocky, the Rottweiler raised by a Parma couple after he was left to starve by a family in Akron when they moved in 2002?
. . . the Benedictine High School plans to build a $2.5 million athletic pavilion and artificial turf football practice field?
View full sizeRocky, a Rottweiler shown here in 2002 when he was around a year-old, was adopted by the Billy's after the dog was found abandoned and emmaciated at a house in Akron this summer. Whatever happened to Rocky, the Rottweiler raised by a Parma couple after he was left to starve by a family in Akron when they moved in 2002? After eight years of lounging on the couch, swimming in the pool and being a popular fixture in a Parma neighborhood, Rocky died Oct. 3 after a bout with cancer.
Charla Billy, who fell in love with Rocky at first sight after he was rescued from a ramshackle house in 2002, hardly talk about him with choking up.
"He was the greatest dog in the world," she said. "He gave us a very happy eight years and we miss him every single day. There will never be another dog like him."
Charla almost cried the first time she saw Rocky, who was so emaciated that every rib was visible.
His owners in Akron moved away and abandoned the dog, but the loyal animal stood guard on the front porch of the house, protecting the property of those who left him to starve.Neighbors refused to feed or water him because, "He's not my dog."A good Samaritan got word to the city animal control officer and the dog was picked up. A newspaper story attracted a lot of offers for adoption. Charla and Michael Billy fell in love with the dog and gave him a home.
Six months later, he weighed 100 pounds and was the center of the Billy household. Before his recent illness, Rocky was up to 145 pounds!
He was a gentle giant, like the punch-drunk fighter played by Sylvester Stallone for whom he was named. He thought he was a lap dog who never missed a chance to cuddle with the Billys, their children and grandchildren, giving everyone sloppy dog kisses.
But dogs don't live as long as people.
"One day in September he was limping," Charla said. "We took him to the vet and learned that he had inoperable bone cancer. They gave him pain medicine, but we knew it would be just a matter of time until we would have to do the humane thing."
She said they cherished those last few weeks with him. When their grandchildren would visit, Rocky would forget his pain and play with the kids, as he had gone for almost a decade.
One Sunday, it was clear that the time had come.
"Michael said, 'I don't think the big guy is gonna make it," Charla said. "He was just lying there, couldn't even drink water. We took him in and they put my Rocky baby to sleep."
The Billys have help getting over their loss. Two years ago, in a turn of events similar to the way Rocky was adopted, their grandson found a bedraggled Rottweiler-German Shepherd living on the porch of an abandoned building near his job.
He bought the dog hamburgers every day, which she ate gratefully.
Finally, after determining that no one owned the dog, he took her to the one place he knew she would be happy: his grandparents. She fit right in and quickly became Rocky's girl.
Her name? Adrian, of course.
View full sizeLong Time Benedictine Football coach Augie Bossu, shown here in August 2006 when he was 90. Whatever happened to the Benedictine High School plans to build a $2.5 million athletic pavilion and artificial turf football practice field?
Those plans, announced last year by the school, are still alive, according to the Rev. Gerard Gonda, the school president.
Officials had hope to break ground earlier this year, but Gonda said plans slowed when the economy soured.
"We've been quietly going about meeting with alumni and friends," Gonda said, "and we're getting close to our goal."
That goal is to raise nearly $1 million, which has been done through written pledges. Half the money has been collected in cash. Gonda said when $700,000 in cash is collected, ground will then be broken.
"We are getting closer to our goal," Gonda said. "We could hurry up and break ground now, but the wiser decision is to wait. We're not that far from getting this project started."
He also said that once the silence phase the school has been completed - contacting individual alumni and friends - the school will initiate their general phase of accepting donations from anyone wishing to do so.
The new facilities will be dedicated to the memory of three school giants. One is Augie Bossu, the beloved and legendary football and baseball coach who died Jan. 1, 2008 at age 91.
Bossu coached the Bengals to state high school football championships. He is a member of the National High School Hall of Fameand Ohio High School Halls of Fame for football and baseball.
The second figure is the late Joe Rufus, who coached Benedictine to three city titles in 1948 - in baseball, basketball and football - and later became the school's athletic director. He was Bossu's predecessor as football coach.
Gonda said the last name is Bishop Roger Ories, who was an standout athlete at Benedictine and a school principal before becoming an auxiliary bishop of Cleveland.
The complex will also include an all-weather track. The facility will be located on the school's 16-acre campus in between the school and Saint Andrew Abbey.