Fechser’s memorial draws hundreds

  Cowboy and casino man Key Fechser’s death last week at age 55 left folks from New York to Alaska missing their favorite character. Hundreds of those people converged on the J.W. Marriott Friday to celebrate his life and hear some hilarious stories.

  Here are a few:

  Local inter-faith celebrant Saral Burdette first met Key when she agreed to officiate the marriage of his daughter, Fancy. She recalled this one about how Key often greeted strangers.

   “'What’s your name?’ And then he proceeded to say, ‘That’s amazing. I have your name tattooed on my ass.’ I have to say that I’m grateful he did not drop his drawers and show me the words that were tattooed on his backside: ‘Your Name.’ I absolutely love that his daughter actually thought I might have seen that on her wedding day. That says an awful lot about her father.”

  Attorney David Chesnoff traveled with Fechser on outdoor adventures and in search of business opportunities. He also acted as his lawyer from time to time.

  In the Philippines, Chesnoff and Fechser attended a business dinner and during the evening were introduced to none other than Imelda Marcos.

  “I said, ‘What a pleasure to meet you.’ And Key said, and I’m not lying, ‘Nice shoes.’”

   "Key would often call me in the middle of the night when he hit a bump in the road. There were quite a few of those calls. For example, he called me one night about 3 in the morning and he said, ‘Hypothetically, Ches. Cab cut me off. And I honk. And the taxi driver gave me the finger. And hypothetically I drove up next to him. And hypothetically he said, ‘Grandpa, what are you going to do to me?’ And hypothetically I grabbed him and pulled him through the window. And hypothetically I whipped his ass. What hypothetically would be the charges?’

  “And I said, ‘Hypothetically, you should get back in your car and hypothetically drive to Alaska.’"