Tom Fouts; humorist, broadcaster & Captain Stubby
Hyfler/Rosner
Associated Press
May 25, 2004
YOUNG AMERICA, Ind. -- Tom Fouts, a broadcaster and humorist
who was widely known by his nickname Captain Stubby, died
Monday at St. Joseph Hospital in Kokomo. He was 85.
Fouts performed on Chicago radio station WLS from 1949 to
1960 and taped hundreds of episodes of a 5-minute radio show
"Is Anybody Home?" with longtime sidekick, Charles "Homer"
Bill.
Fouts was known for clean humor, a straight face and a stout
stature that fit his nickname. He also had a band known as
Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers that performed on The
National Barn Dance and toured across the country.
He spent the last decades of his life at his home near the
town of Young America about 30 miles east of Lafayette. But
he maintained an active career as an after-dinner speaker
and commercial spokesman. He helped write the jingle for
Roto Rooter, which is still used.
Andy Eubank, the general manager of Logansport radio
stations WSAL and WLHM, knew Fouts for more than 20 years
and said Fouts' shows were still in syndication on many
Indiana stations. He said he did not know anyone else who
could do a similar country-humor program.
"They really are pretty timeless, but Captain Stubby's humor
was very timeless," Eubank told the Pharos-Tribune of
Logansport. "Maybe nobody else could pull it off like he was
able to do."
Survivors include his wife, Lou.
A funeral was scheduled for Friday at Deer Creek
Presbyterian Church in Camden.
