How to help
Donations can be made by cash or check to: Memorial Account for Barry Hobart/Dr. Creep and deposited at any PNC Branch Location or to: The Barry Hobart/Dr. Creep Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 186 Franklin, Ohio 45005
Contributions are tax deductible.
MIDDLETOWN — Dayton horror host Dr. Creep suffered spinal meningitis, diabetes, heart disease and a few years ago had open heart surgery.
But with no health insurance, Barry Hobart was forced at times to skip taking his medication because he couldn’t afford it.
“He was barely making it. He was on Social Security and his mother (who is 93 and gravely ill) was helping him out. Whatever he needed she tried to help him. But she’s struggling, too,” said his ex-wife Lavanda Ferguson, 63, of Dayton.
When he died Jan. 14 after suffering a series of strokes and laying in a coma for three weeks, Hobart’s medical bills ballooned to about $100,000. Funeral expenses totaled $14,000.
Family and friends are now trying desperately to raise money for the Middletown native, who as Dr. Creep was an icon in the 70s and 80s as the host of WKEF-TV Channel 22’s “Shock Theatre” and co-host of “Clubhouse 22.”
A benefit held Jan. 28 at Vex Night Club in downtown Dayton raised about $1,000 toward funeral costs. A memorial fund in Hobart’s name was recently established at PNC Bank.
“There’s just no money to pay for anything,” said Steve Snider of Cincinnati, Hobart’s cousin who began in December acting as his power of attorney. “I tried to straighten out his finances, but there are no finances to straighten out.”
Friends and family say Hobart used his fame to give back, co-founding the successful local children’s holiday charity Project Christmas Smiles with Linda Gabbard in the 1970s.
They said long after he was off the air, Hobart continued his charitable acts, giving money raised to help with his medical bills to a child he barely knew.
“He was a giver. He’d give someone the shirt off his back,” Snider said.
Snider said he hopes those touched by Hobart will return the favor.
Family members say Shock Theatre and Clubhouse 22 were by-products of Hobart’s love of horror shows that began at age 6 when he first saw his uncle, Doug Hobart, a Hollywood horror film actor, host a “midnight spook show” as Dr. Traboh in the Ohio and Kentucky area.
“I think that’s where he picked up the idea of Dr. and changed his name to Creep,” said Doug Hobart, who lives in Fort Lauderdale.
“I was very proud of him ... He was one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet and he loved what he was doing and that’s why he was so successful.”
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