Frank “Kelly” Bachman Gutshall, 92, a longtime resident of Springtown, died Thursday, June 22, 2017 at the Inpatient Hospice Unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown.
FRONT NINE: Kelly graduated from Springfield High School in 1942. He served our country faithfully in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Tech Sgt. during World War II. He then entered Muhlenberg College as a physics major. In 1946 he transferred to Lehigh University and graduated in 1950 with a B.S. in business administration. During college Kelly worked undercoating cars for his father F.L. Gutshall in Springtown and joined the family business as a salesman in 1950. In 1954, Kelly, along with his brothers Popeye and Jack, he expanded the family business to Hellertown, and after nearly 40 years Kelly retired in 1990 from Gutshall’s Chevrolet. He served on the Chevrolet Dealers Planning Committee and was President of the A.B.E. Chevrolet Dealers Association. Kelly was Past President of the Hellertown Lions Club, Springtown Fire Company and Springtown Sportsman’s Association. He served on the Council at Christ Lutheran Church, Springtown, and on the Board of Directors for Indian Valley Country Club, Merchants Bank and First National Bank. While in the Marine Corps, Kelly saved money to buy his first set of golf clubs–a Sam Snead set with bag for $60–by driving Marines from Cherry Point, N.C., to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. He made the last spot on the Lehigh golf team in 1949. Bill Leckonby jokingly said, “He made the team because he had a car and the team needed it to travel.” They went undefeated in 1950, the same year as the football team. He joined Indian Valley Country Club in 1960 and won the club championship 12 times over four decades.
BACK NINE: From 1990-2006 Kelly was the Golf Coach at Lehigh University. He took on a team that was at rock bottom–hardly a varsity sport–and the women’s team wasn’t even a club sport at the time. As golf coach, Kelly made an immediate impact. “Kelly drew people to Lehigh with his interesting personality and honesty,” Don Bolle said. Five years after he began coaching, he won the Patriot League Coach of the Year Award and he repeated that achievement in 1996. He also coached the first nonmilitary golf team to win the Patriot League Championship, which Lehigh won again in 1997. Professor and close friend, Jack Abel, coined him “The Grandfather of Lehigh Golf.” Perhaps his most memorable legacy, more than winning championships or compiling the best record of any Lehigh golf team, was in 2001 when Lehigh finally had a women’s golf team, and of course Kelly was the coach. In 2005, Kelly stepped down as Lehigh’s coach but only because he could no longer drive the team van. Kelly prodded Gene Mulvihill to build the indoor-outdoor facility at Lehigh where he could still teach golf. He eagled every hole at Indian Valley Country Club except #2, and had 13 holes in one over his golf career. He played in 13 different countries and on 276 different courses. He shot his age or better 1,452 times and was inducted into the GALV Hall of Fame in the inaugural class in 2004. In 2012, he received the distinguished service award from Philadelphia Golf Association.
He set an example to many through his perseverance, dedication, strength, determination and work ethic, which was an inspiration to anyone he encountered. Loving everyone equally, no matter of their status, was one of his greatest attributes. And what does Gutshall want his legacy to be? He said, “When I take my final ride down the road, I hope that someone standing on the side says, ‘There goes a player!’”
SURVIVORS
In addition to his loving wife of 69 years last September; children: Rand F. (Theresa) Gutshall of Whitehall, Pamela E. (Chris) Page of Coopersburg, Brenda Lee Kotroutsos; 7 grandchildren. He was predeceased by brothers: Donald T. “Popeye” and John L. “Jack” Gutshall.
SERVICE
Family and friends are invited to call from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, 2017 and 9:30 to 10 a.m. Thursday at the Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc., 326 Main St., Hellertown. The calling hour Thursday will be followed by the service at 10 a.m. Interment will be held at Springtown Cemetery with military honors. Online expressions of sympathy can be recorded at www.heintzelmancares.com.
CONTRIBUTIONS
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Christ Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 212, 3224 PA-212, Springtown, PA 18081.