By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Hall of Fame broadcaster Colonel Bob Sheridan talks to Fightnews.com® about how he lost his wife Annie to cancer on December 17, 2020 on what he said was the worst day of his life. The day of the funeral, the Colonel was contacted by Government officials to inform him they had found his 41-year-old son in London, England. The story he describes is inspirational.

THE COLONEL AND ANNIE’S WONDERFUL MARRIAGE

“Losing my wife Annie is the worst thing that ever happened in my life,” said Colonel Bob Sheridan. “We were not only great friends, we were madly in love with each other. We never argued and never had a fight in our lives. We just had a wonderful life. My wife Annie was from Tipperary in Ireland. She was my soul mate. Annie was everything to me and the only thing that we had, because we were too old to have children, was our little dog Lucy. We go to Annie’s grave together each day and I place one red rose on her grave every day. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and me and Lucy get out of bed and we take a rose from the refrigerator sometimes at 3am or 4am in the morning and visit the celebrity grave where Annie is buried in Las Vegas. It’s a beautiful, beautiful site. I go there in the middle of the night and I don’t feel ghoulish or strange or anything else. I feel a real situation of peace and a calmness comes over me and I can talk to my wife and say. ‘I had a pretty good day today. Joe Parker won his fight.’ Annie and Joe were close friends. After Annie died, Kevin Barry and Joseph Parker called me every single day. It was a wonderful lift for me.”

ANNIE’S BEAUTIFUL FUNERAL

“After the funeral where we were only allowed three people because of Covid-19 then and as it worked out there were 300 people at the Catholic Church. There were 40-something Hall of Famers. All the (Nevada) commissioners, every referee and judge in the state of Nevada. Boxing people from Top Rank, Bruce Trampler, my old producer for thirty-five years Buddy Cohen. Jimmy Lennon Jr. and Al Bernstein who was very helpful to me. Al’s wife has been suffering from breast cancer for fourteen years. The first day Annie was sick I called Al and he really helped me a lot. I have great friends in the media. They are dear friends for over fifty years. Al helped me immeasurably. He just came back from a fight in New York that weekend. All of Annie’s friends were there from the art world. She was a very accomplished artist. I was offered $25,000 for one of her oil originals but I turned that down. I was advised by an expert in art that it could be worth millions. He told me not to sell any of the originals. George Calvin’s wife from New Zealand is one of Annie’s best friends. She purchased one of Annie’s paintings for $30,000 which helped pay for the funeral. We had a real Irish funeral for Annie. We had pipers and drummers and I was in my military uniform which is the same uniform I was married in. We began with the National Anthem from Ireland and the National Anthem to me is sacred. I sang the National Anthem in Gaelic. A third of Annie’s ashes will be buried in Tipperary, Ireland with her mother and father.

FATHER McCABE’S WISE WORDS

“As I was leaving the graveyard I was very distressed when I was stopped by Father McCabe who married us and he said to me – “ I want to tell you something. I know that you feel you have been cheated by The Lord. I have heard your confessions and I know you have great faith. I want you to think about this. Remember this and don’t ever forget it. God the Father in Heaven above only gave his son 33 years on earth. He gave you 40 great years with your wife. Just think about that. So who was cheated? Not me. The Lord granted you 40 years with the person you loved so much. I got to be honest. I was crying the first time since I was a child. That lifted me up a bit.

FINDING THE COLONEL’s SON IN LONDON

“About 30 people came back to my house where I had a pint of Guinness and I calmed down and then I got a call from people high up in the Government and they told me without question that I have a 41-year-old son named Simon Edwards and soon to be Simon Edwards Patrick Sheridan. We have talked on the phone every day. It is an inspiration in life for me. They took away my wife and the same day they gave me my long-lost son. I had no idea this boy existed. It seems as though he is a great athlete. He plays in the senior division in soccer in England, also a top player in cricket in England. The agency that called me we have done a background investigation and this is a terrific kid who is a practicing Catholic and is also a star athlete. He has all his own money and he doesn’t need you for money, he just wants to meet his father. I am flying him to Las Vegas on my birthday in June. I bought his ticket to travel First Class from London to Las Vegas on the 21st of June. Everyone in my family is excited. On the 22nd of June is my birthday. We will have my party and Simon’s coming home party.

RED CORVETTE HAS BEEN ORDERED

“It’s wonderful and it has given me a whole new lease on life. A year ago my wife was perfectly healthy and we were happy and now she is buried in her grave. I am coming up to 80 years old now and I don’t know how much time I have. Whatever time I have I going to have it for me. Just say I am asked to do the fight in Dubai between Fury and Joshua. If I have a vacation planned I would normally do the fight but now I am going look after the Colonel. I have just ordered a brand new Corvette which is the top sports car in the United States. I bought a red one with saddle interior. A convertible top. It looks beautiful. When I was a young broadcaster in Miami part of my contract was a new Corvette.

The Colonel will be a regular contributor of Fightnews.com®