On the drive from Middletown to the stadium, Abner was his “jovial self,” his son, Jeff Abner said. His father even bragged about attending the first seven Bengals home games, all victories, and he hoped the team would complete a perfect home record.
While the Bengals won, the Abner family will remember Dec. 29, 2013 for its tragedy not its triumph.
Minutes before kickoff, Jack Abner, 75, told his son and grandson, Jordan, 19, a sophomore at Miami University, that his chest hurt. So the stadium security was called and Abner was taken to the first aid station below the stadium. A couple of electrocardiograms were performed because the results were abnormal, Jeff Abner said.
The medical staff told Jeff Abner that his father suffered a serious heart attack and he needed to be transported to Christ Hospital for further evaluation. Then Jack Abner told his son that if he was going to die, he’d rather die right there at PBS.
He lived most of his life a Bengal fan.
He might as well die that way.
Jack Abner was pronounced dead at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati at 3:15 p.m. Sunday, about the time it was apparent the Bengals would defeat the Ravens. He was buried Friday at Woodside Cemetery.
Jeff Abner called his father’s passing “a blessing” because he wasn’t the type of guy who wanted to spend months in the hospital. “That would be no quality of life,” his son said.
Earlier this week, a representative from the Bengals, Bob Bedinghaus, director of business development, called the family to offer his condolences. Then, a day later, he called again and talked to Phyllis Abner, who was married to Jack for 54 years. He said the family “really appreciated” the team’s kindness.
Abner spent his professional career in the industrial sales, beginning with Diamond International in Middletown and ending when he was president and CEO with Shearer Bauer Packaging Co. in Cincinnati.
Jeff Abner, 47, and his brother, Jack Jr., and their sons will continue an Abner tradition: sitting in Section 116 at Paul Brown Stadium when the Bengals face the San Diego Chargers today in the playoffs for the time time since the famous Freezer Bowl when the wind chill temperatures reached 59 degrees below zero during the 1981 AFC Championship Game.
Jeff, then a sophomore at Middletown High School, sat in the seat bundled in a sleeping bag, while his mother spent about half the game under a heater in the bathroom, and his dad walked to the car, turned on the heater, and sat in there during halftime. Then he returned to the stadium with an unused ticket.
Jeff Abner knows it won’t be the same today. It can’t. His father won’t be there.
“Bittersweet,” Jeff Abner said when asked how he’ll feel today. “It will be hard to be there and not think about Dad.”
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