I havent read the group for a while, but I see this wasnt posted.
RIP Ray.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/obituaries/stories/DN-
sternob_08met.ART.West.Edition1.44c8247.html

In 1946, 13-year-old Walter Bookbinder ran away from his Brooklyn
home to join the Merchant Marines.

The seventh-grader grew up to be known as Ray Stern and went on to
become a bodybuilder and fitness-center entrepreneur. He was also
known as Ray "Thunder" Stern, a champion professional wrestler whose
21-year career included about 3,600 matches, including one in which
he is said to have pinned a previously undefeated black bear in 35
seconds. (There is no record of how a match with an alligator went.)

Mr. Stern later became an aerobatic and commercial pilot and owned
an aviation business. He was also a successful Dallas real estate
developer.

Mr. Stern, 74, died Tuesday of an antibiotic-resistant infection at
Medical City Dallas Hospital. He had recently had elective surgery.

After twice running away from his impoverished neighborhood, Mr.
Stern first gained fame as a wrestler and then found his fortune as
a businessman.

"He made it happen," said his wife of 10 years, Debi Stern of
Dallas. "He is the American dream come true."

Mr. Stern began lifting weights in his early teens, Mrs. Stern said.
He joined the Merchant Marines to escape the poverty of his Brooklyn
neighborhood, his wife said.

Mr. Stern took two 50-pound dumbbells with him to sea in a duffel
bag, to the surprise of a fellow shipmate.

"One of the senior sailors kicked the bag to say, 'Hey, get that bag
out of the way,' " Mrs. Stern said.

In 1949, Mr. Stern's interest in bodybuilding took him to Muscle
Beach in California, where he learned from Joe Gold and Armand
Tanny, icons of the sport.

In California, he was persuaded to become a professional wrestler.
He used his mother's maiden name, Stern, and selected a one-syllable
first name Ray, to be his ring name. He later picked up the nickname
Thunder for his loud ring persona and his airborne maneuvers.

"Ray was most well-known for the drop kick," his wife said.

Despite his 19-inch biceps and 50-inch chest, Mr. Stern was more
than brawn.

To prepare for a match against a 550-pound black bear, he observed
the animal in a competition the night before his scheduled match.

"No one had ever beaten the bear," Mrs. Stern said. "When Ray went
into the ring, he screamed 'rarraaah' and the bear reared up on his
hind legs. Ray grabbed it by a back leg and took him down."

He won numerous wrestling championships as an individual and as part
of a tag team.

Wanting fortune to go with his fame, Mr. Stern ventured into
business, beginning with health clubs in California. He expanded
into apartment buildings, including the Wedgwood Tower in Oak Cliff,
an investment that brought him to Dallas in 1966.

At the time, Mr. Stern was married to his first wife, Clare, a
fitness adviser and entrepreneur for women's spas.

Mr. Stern fell in love with Dallas. The couple moved here and opened
a joint effort, Ray and Clare Stern Spa. The couple's clubs were
among the first to feature day-care facilities for parents who
wanted to work out.

At its 1972 opening, the Forest Lane facility was billed as the
largest in the Southwest. It featured a 110-degree mineral water
spa, Roman swimming pool, Turkish sauna, ice plunge, steam room and
ultraviolet sunrooms.

The Sterns quickly made their name in the fitness business. In
December 1975, Elvis Presley and eight friends flew in from Memphis
for a 20-minute tour of racquetball courts at the Sterns' fitness
center.

Mr. Stern seemingly added business ventures like plates on a
barbell.

There was the Claremont – now the Bonaventure – on Keller Springs
Road and the tollway, "not just a place to live ... but a total
living experience."

There were high-rise office towers built with French partners and a
corporate-jet flying service.

Ray and Clare Stern divorced about 20 years ago. Clare Stern died
about 15 months ago.

"Ray always had 10 things going on at the same time," Mrs. Stern
said. "You can't define the different parts of Ray's life, because
they overlap. He had real estate, wrestling, health clubs and
aviation. He was a very complex person."

In 2005, Mr. Stern received the New York State Award at the
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, N.Y.

"Ray wanted it all, and he got it all," his wife said.

Mr. Stern's services will be private. He is believed to have a
sister, Mrs. Stern said.

Memorials may be made to the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary,
P.O. Box 637, Boyd, Texas 76023.