October - December 2018

www.servingourseniors.org 11 800-564-1856 419-624-1856 employee said, “Let me hear something.” Denny chuckles as he recalls, “We sang Duke of Earl and the harmony was so smooth the employees couldn’t believe it. After we had been playing there for a while, the owner told us that since we started to play at the Saloon, his employees didn’t call off work.” “I have to thank my girlfriend, Jackie Marshall, for her support of my singing and performing,” which he continues to do today. Denny’s other passion – bodybuilding - grew out of his attempt to restore his health. At 26-years-old, Denny was hospitalized for nine months with tuberculosis. He was motivated to get better and remembers “There were a lot of things I wanted to achieve. I wanted to take care of my wife and family.” When he was released from the hospital the first thing he did was get a job. The next thing he did was ask his neighbor, Terry Demore, if he could use his weights. “I know he never expected me to show up every day to use his weights, but I did,” he said as he laughed. It was this weightlifting experience that led to his other side career as a bodybuilder. In 1967, he opened the Sandusky Barbell Club and operated it for 17 years in downtown Sandusky. “Bodybuilding was an enjoyable time for me. I trained with the power lifters to get the power I needed to become a better bodybuilder. Dave Waddington and I trained together. I also trained with Dr. Marty Brasch, John Needham and Irv Jackson. If some of the bodybuilders weren’t around when I was training, the power lifters would spot me with my bench presses and squats. And I did the same for them.” Denny states that he went farther with bodybuilding than he expected, qualifying to compete in the Mr. America contest in four different years. To prepare for a bodybuilding contest he would spend two to three hours a day at the gym, after he got off work from his day job at Routh Packing. He learned that things are not always as they appear. “One day an inspector at Routh Packing stopped me and said, ‘I hear you are a bodybuilder.’ I replied, ‘Yes, I am and many of the guys don’t like me because of it.’ The inspector told me that I misunderstood and that my co-workers admired me. He said “They don’t know how you can go to a gym after working eight hours at Routh Packing. Don’t ever think these guys don’t like you.” I was surprised to learn that’s how they saw me. In fact, it changed things for me at work.” Denny is the proud father of two talented sons, Dennis, Jr. (“Dino”) and Ryan Rolison. Each son followed in his father’s footsteps, though they went in different directions. Dino owns Abyss Music Studio in Toledo. Ryan is the owner of Dream Bodies gym, also in Toledo, and a promoter of bodybuilding competitions. Denny sums up his philosophy on life, “I believe you got to go with the flow and when opportunities arise, you got to push yourself.”