Pictured from left are Omni employees Chuck Duncan, Jack Popham, Bob Dhue, Bob Williams, and Mike Oshust at the 1983 ACC Basketball Championships final game. Reggie Williams is seated in front.
Robert Wayne (Bob) Dhue, longtime manager of the Omni in Atlanta, died Oct. 19 at the age of 79.
He was a “great friend and boss, too many great times to remember,” wrote Rex W. Post, who worked with Dhue during his World Championship Wrestling days. Dhue brought his love of marketing to the forefront during his four years with WCW, a Turner Broadcasting Company. He was already president of The Omni when he added executive director of operations at WCW to his duties in 1992.
He made headlines when he created a mascot, Wildcat Willie, for the touring wrestling show, enlisting Jim Hedrick, who had been Harry the Hawk for the Atlanta Hawks during Dhue’s reign at the Omni. “Bob loved wrestling,” noted Mike Oshust, who worked with him at the Omni. “We had WCW in the building twice a month, 22 dates out of the year.”
Oshust concurred with Post that Dhue was a great boss, making sure everyone had adequate down time and family time in this crazy business. His mantra was, “just do your job.” The crew that ran the Omni, those who remain, still gather occasionally in Atlanta, Oshust said. They were that close-knit. All were also longtime members of IAVM (then IAAM), which Dhue attended regularly. They were regulars at the golf tournament, which Dhue loved as much as music and sports.
Pictured from left are Mike Oshust, Bob Dhue, Scott Simpson, and Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus employees, Allen Bloom and Richard Adler, at the 1991 Atlanta Classic ProAm.
Dhue began his career in venue management at the Omni in 1976 as director of booking. He was president of the since-demolished home of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA from 1988 to 1996.
The Omni Coliseum opened as part of the large Omni complex that developed the southern end of downtown Atlanta in the early 1970s to attract convention and professional sports industries to the city. Portions of this complex, most notably the CNN Center, exist today, but the Omni arena was torn down in 1997. Philips Arena, now known as State Farm Arena, was built in its place.
Dhue was vice president of National Car Rental Arena, Miami, for Leisure Management International, opening that venue in 1999. In 2001, he returned to Atlanta and founded R. Dhue & Associates, becoming a facility management and marketing consultant.
Photographed in 1990, from left, are Mike Oshust, Bob Dhue, and Richard Adler.
Dhue was born in 1945 to Harry and Cecilia Dhue (Zitter). He was an only child but made a large family of friends in the venue business.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Linda, with whom he shared many years, and by his daughters, Laurie Dhue (a longtime newscaster of whom he was very proud), Nancy Dhue Suh (Chris), and Lauren Mecham (Jon); and son, Mark-David Chandler (Ashley); four grandchildren, and many friends, and extended family members.
There will be a celebration of his life Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. at Parish Grove (Cathedral Towers), 2820 Peachtree Rd. NW, Atlanta.
