—Submitted photo Bud Fair, Martin Schuh and Ron Walstrom stand together after a boxing event. Fair, who ran the Fort Dodge Boxing Club since 1982, passed away Friday at the age of 94.

Martin Schuh vividly remembers the day he first walked into the Fort Dodge Boxing Club gym.

Standing in front of him was a man that didn’t have an intimidating stature, but was full of knowledge in the ring.

That man — Bud Fair — would quickly become an instrumental figure in Schuh’s boxing career and a part of his family as well, helping the Fort Dodge Senior High graduate grow into the person he is today.

On Friday, Fair passed away at 94 years old.

“Bud Fair was as great as they come,” Schuh said. “As good of a coach as he was, he was even a better person. I’ve never heard Bud’s name and a negative comment in the same sentence across the state of Iowa.

“He helped mold many kids into the men they are today.”

Another one of those kids was Ron Walstrom, who letter became a coach with Fair and saw first-hand what he meant to Fort Dodge and the boxing community.

“Bud was so good to everybody and was very well-respected in the state,” Walstrom said. “Bud touched so many lives in boxing and helped guide so many to state and Golden Gloves championships,

“I was one of them. As a young guy I could have gone down many paths. But with the gym always open, I was there and he worked with me. Bud just had a big heart and a great work ethic. He may have come across a little rough, but he was one of the most kind, gentle, caring people I know.”

Walstrom, who won eight Golden Gloves events under Fair, stood by his mentor’s side as a coach and helped the process of molding young people himself.

“He was a great coach who was effective in getting his point across,” Walstrom said. “He was pretty strict in the gym. If you weren’t there, he would make you pay the price the next time. He made you bust your butt and pushed you to be the best you could be.”

Schuh’s time in the Fort Dodge gym with Fair grew to more than that, as he and his father traveled around the country going to state and national boxing events. It wasn’t just the boxing knowledge that Schuh soaked up — it was walking in the footsteps of a man that had done a lot of walking.

“My dad and Coach Ron would go to these tournaments four or five states away to fight,” said Schuh, a seven-time Golden Glove winner. “Bud had seen it all and had walked a lot of miles. It was nice talking to him, and as I got older, he definitely became a family figure.

“He molded me as a boxer and as a man.”

John Buckner, a 2002 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate, boxed from ’00 to ’02 under Fair.

“Bud created a space for me to find my confidence while being a part of something I’m still proud of,” Buckner said. “Bud was consistently positive and supportive when I needed it most. Training with Bud, I always felt like I was going to be successful.

“I’m not sure I knew it then, but I know now how important it is to create spaces for young people to find themselves and be a part of something they can be proud of. Bud certainly helped create that for me.”

Fair, a member of the Iowa Amateur Boxing Association Hall of Fame, had a pure love for boxing and also for supporting area kids.

In an interview with the Messenger in 2015, Fair talked about why — even at 90 years old — he still was in the gym as much as possible.

“I just want to be there for the kids and show them what to do and what not to do in the ring,” Fair said at the time. “Some of them can’t even spit and walk at the same time when they come in. Some of them are just naturals. Some just come in to get away from home.”

Everyone that remembers Fair and was in the gym with him, knew if they wanted to work out, he would be there.

“He would always be at the gym at 5 p.m. to open up,” said Schuh, a 2009 FDSH graduate. “He kept the gym running. There were years when we didn’t have a lot of kids, but if there was one person, Bud would be there.

“I boxed with the Fort Dodge Boxing Club until 2012 when I went to the University of Iowa. After that, I would come back fairly often and on the holidays. I would get up to the gym during the week and he was glad to see me.”

Boxing wasn’t the only sport the Fair showed his passion for and it wasn’t the only one he was good at. Racing was another love for Fair, who started driving race cars in 1948 when he built his first one.

Fair is also in the Kossuth County Racing Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Sports Park Drivers Hall of Fame.

Fair, who lived in Manson, was married to his wife Angie for 65-plus years.

A Celebration of Life will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Laufersweiler.

“He touched a lot of lives, not just in Fort Dodge, but at the state and even national levels,” Schuh said. “He was a great guy and he always had my back, and I had his.

“It is a Celebration of Life for the man that he was.”