I'm so sad to hear about Karl, I was just searching the internet for an old friend, when I came across Karl's passing.

Since Karl was about 9 years older then me we didn't really hang out or know each other that well, but he was kind enough to invite me to the races. I guess it was about 50 years ago, anyway off we went, there was 3 of us, Karl, his brother Dave and myself. The three of us drove to races in or around Hamilton in my 1956 Chev, that evening is when I realized how much of a gentleman and kind person Karl was. I wanted so much to hang out/get to know him, but that never happened, but I still have the memories which will continue to inspire me. With love, Charlie

Alright alright alright that's excalty what I needed!

Thought it woldun't to give it a shot. I was right.

I just heard of Karl's passing in June of this year and was very saddened. We go back 40 years and have enjoyed many good times especially at the races. Both my wife and I send our condolences to the family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this most difficult time. Sincerely Victor & Marilyn Swatheridge

My deepest condolence to Karl's family. I have known Karl for many years, from going with him to stock car races when he drove his own car to working with Karl in the same store to chatting with him when pleasure skating to playing hockey on the same team and going for rides in his vintage Ford car with rumble seat. Thanks for being my friend Karl. I will miss you. Ian

Our condolences to Karl,s family. Karl was a regular visitor to our collectibles store. He always had a story to tell. We will miss him. God Bless.

I was deeply saddened by the news about the death of Karl. I am so very sorry. This must be very difficult for you. Please remember that you are in my thoughts and my prayers. The racing family will miss a wonderful race fan, May God bless you and your family during this time and always.

For years Karl would come into the store (15 to undefined yrs. and we would talk about toys for at least a couple of hrs. In all my years l have never met any body that was as informed as Karl! He new the history of every toy maker out their and shared this knowledge with me and for that I can't thank him enough! Thanks Karl you will surly missed. Boomer

sorry-I forgot my signature on my story-Mike Lindsay (Burlington)

I really got to know Karl well more than 20 years ago when we would get together at the Paris Fairgrounds for Wednesday evening mini stock races. Cathie and I and (at that time) our very young son (Brett) would often find that Paris made a nice summer drive from Burlington and Karl would keep us entertained with some tales of where he'd been recently, and in past years. He was the friendly face we knew from Flamboro and Delaware. We'd trade stories about our adventures in race car ownership and I was amazed to find out that he'd actually driven in the Jalopy division at the CNE. Like a lot of ex racers, the older he got, the faster he was. I think we hit it off also as we both came from Post Office backgrounds. We did go on a few trips together, him with us to Toledo and me with him to Jennerstown, PA but he always liked to be independent. I think Steve Gibson excellently covered a number of the other venues where we'd bump into him and I know we'd kid him about being frugal but I distinctly remember him buying me a beer at Barrie Speedway at a Cascar Show, but the Queen blinked when he opened his wallet! His sometimes two or three round trips to Oswego NY Speedway on Labour Day weekend (for a number of seasons) had me tired just thinking about all that driving. Non stop drives to Oxford Maine were right up there too. Oswego seemed to be his favourite venue and his favourite seat was high up in corner four in the covered grandstand. Joining him there for a few shows, I can only compare it to sitting inside a bass guitar amplifier and we soon learned a rudimentary form of sign language to communicate. That's also why race fans say "eh?" in an interogative manner quite frequently.

Karl also joined us at some sports-Brantford Red Sox Baseball and AHL hockey in Hamilton, for example, but his true passion was motorsport. He even joined me in my railfanning pursuits at the Brantford Station a couple times where naturally we'd talk racing between trains.

All in all, I think Karl was blessed to see motorsport in it's "golden" era and I'll long cherish some of the memories and adventures we shared.

One of the best things about going to the races would be seeing Karl and listening to his stories about his mail carrier days, his paper route, his quest for all types of recycable metal, his antique toys,his church ladies and of course his marathon drives to different tracks in his grey or green Toyota which always seemed to have a hubcap missing.

I will always remember his tale of getting lost in Detroit on his way to Sandusky, OH arriving just in time for the Supermodified feature and then his return from Sandusky via a "detour" to Pittsburgh.

Over the last 5-10 years I have seen Karl at more different tracks than anyone else and we shared a lot of memories at tracks such as:

In Ontario,

Delaware Speedway

Flamboro Speedway

Ohsweken Speedway

Cayuga Speedway

Sauble Speedway

Sunset Speedway

Barrie Speedway

Kawartha Speedway

Peterborough Speedway

In the United States:

Oswego Speedway (NY)

Toledo Speedway (OH)

Winchester Speedway (IN)

Holland (NY)

Oxford Plains (ME)

Dixie Speedway (MI)

Nashville Fairgrounds (TN)

New Smyrna (FL)

Volusia (FL)

I will greatly miss Karl. His last race was May 7 at Flamboro Speedway that we were together at. I will also miss the regular phone calls where I kept him up to date with the latest racing news.

Thanks Karl for some great times,

Steve Gibson

Brampton Ontario

Karl was one of the most interesting people I've had the pleasure of knowing. Not only was he a long-time customer (antique toy restoration) but also a good friend of 15 years.

Karl absolutely loved old toys -- all varieties / types and sizes. I've done items as diverse as a small Marx auto to a very large "Minni Toy" tandem tractor-trailer measuring approx. 52" end to end.

I always looked forward to Karl's twice annual visits to the Rochester, NY Antique Toy Shows. I would have (1) toy completed for him and he would always have at least (1) toy for me to restore in return.

Karl took great pleasure in explaining how he had gone to various "farm auctions" and purchased an item, which was unknown to most if not all of the other people in attendance. Many times he would be able to purchase the item for far less than its true value.

To say that Karl was careful with his money (read that as frugal!) may have been an understatement. I recall several times trying to reach him by phone to ask a question about a toy restoration matter, only to find that he was not home. When I asked him about this at the next toy show, he would shrug and say that he was difficult to reach due to his postal delivery responsibilities or his paper route or whatever. I also found out that he didn't have a phone answering machine and certainly not a computer. Karl always kept it simple (I admired that about him).

Sometime ago, I had tried to reach Karl by phone for several days with an important question about one of his toys. Since I had no other way to reach him (forget the mail service - both U.S. and Canadian!), I tried the last resort. I called the Brantford Police Dept. and explained my non-emergency dilemma. To my never-ending surprise, the kind officer said that he would send a squad car to Karl's and would let me know the outcome. It wasn't a half-hour later, Karl called me and said that the officer had asked him to call me. Needless to say, I wouldn't try that in the States.

I remain forever grateful to the Brantford Police Dept. They couldn't have been more understanding and professional.

These are just a few of the fond memories I have of Karl.

He was a real character, an avid toy collector and a great guy. Karl will be greatly missed by me and all who knew him.

~Doug Ridley,Fairport,New York,USA

My condolences to Karl,s family.He was my good friend and racing buddy. Karl and I spent many Saturday nights at the speedway.He was always jovial and I will miss him very much. Bob Sewell

Our deepest condolences to the Family, Karl was a nice person to work with, always had a smile and a positive outlook on life.