Kitzmiller's Resort, aka "Roo-B-Doo"

Kitzmiller's Resort as described in the old brochure:  Pontiac, Mo. Clif and Flo Kitzmiller-Completely furnished, modern housekeeping cabins, with beautiful view of the lake. Restful, shaded lawn and play grounds. Next to the dock. Guide service. Phone Gainesville, Osborn 9-2174.

The property the resort was built on was patented by Joseph Hall on July 26, 1899. Mr. Hall died, and the property was sold at a sheriff's sale to J.B. Rhodes on February 13, 1906. Mary and I.N. Lantz then acquired the property and conveyed it to Homer Lantz on December 12, 1916. Mr. Lantz sold the property to Elmer and Italy Mahan on May 13, 1937. The Mahans lived on the east side of Highway W just before the stateline. Their son Ron was a little older than me, but he was good friends with my brother, and I remember tagging along with them a few times and spending the night with them and staying in their "bunk house." The Mahans sold the property to Robert Greenwood in 1953, who then sold it to the Kitzmillers on April 8, 1955. I am not sure if they built the resort or if the Kitzmillers did. My only recollection is of the Kitzmillers.

Kitzmiller's Resort as it looked in 1958.

The Kitzmillers sold the resort and property to Bob Stuenkel on September 21, 1963. They changed the name to Stuenkel's Retreat. They had two sons, Art and Bob. They were a little younger than me, but we became good friends. The Stuenkels put in the swimming pool. I think they also put in the RV park, or at least part of it. They were new owners of the resort about the same time my family got into the marina business. I always thought they were a part of the community for a long time, but I discovered that in 1968 they sold the resort to Frank and Theresa Shourek. The Shoureks owned the resort during the time I was in college and working away from Pontiac so I do not remember a lot about what the business was doing at that time, but they must have been the ones who changed the name to Roo-B-Doo.

Left to right, Theresa Shourek, Hugh Moody, Guy Johnson, Bill Gregory and Alice Morgan.
Pontiac Association members.

The Shoureks sold the resort to Jim Miles on August 20, 1976. The Miles only owned it for a year and then sold it to Bob and Rose Hoecker on July 15, 1977. The Hoeckers owned and operated the resort for eight years and sold it to Mike and Treva Paulson on June 20, 1985. Many of you might remember the Hoeckers, but if you ever stayed at Roo-B-Doo during Mike Paulson's time, you will remember him. What a character.

Mike was retired from the Navy. He had never-ending stories about his time in the military. I think I must have heard most of them as he and I worked the Kansas City and St. Louis Boat Shows together for several years. He also had a registered "clown face." Apparently you can create a clown face and register it so no one else can have the same face. I saw the picture.

Mike was from up north. He was always telling me how he knew people. One of my favorite stories about Mike was at the St. Louis boat show. There was a political rally going on at the same time in the hotel we were staying in. We were getting on the elevator, and it was pretty full, but a well-dressed man said, "we can make room," and he stepped up on an empty luggage cart. His head was just over the cross bar and Mike said, "Be careful, you might hang yourself". The man replied, "There are probably a lot of people who would like that." Mike said, "Oh, just stick around and make the b*stards miserable." When we got off, Mike said, "That man is a politician." I replied, "That was John Ashcroft, our governor." I guess Mike could read people.

Mike was a fanatic about keeping his resort neat and tidy. The only problem was he got up early so it was nothing for you to be awakened by a lawn mower running just outside your window at 6:00 in the morning. The grass always looked nice though.

The resort as it looks today.

The Paulsons sold the resort to Marjorie Silbey on July 14, 1992. Margie owned and operated the resort, pretty much by herself, for 10 years. Margie continued promoting Pontiac at the boat shows with the group. On March 1, 2002 Margie sold the resort to Susan Bergman. Susan pretty much ran the resort by herself as well. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for these two ladies to handle all the challenges they were presented with in the resort business by themselves. They kept the resort open and played a vital role in the Pontiac community. A couple years ago a group bought the property and closed the resort. They have since sold it to Richard Roberts and Margaret Toomer who plan on reopening it as a resort next year. We welcome them to the resort business in Pontiac.