Robert McLemore (Bob) Rule

Robert McLemore (Bob) Rule 

Robert “Bob-Bo” Mclemore Rule, aka “Mr. Yo-Yo”, age 88, peacefully took his final checkered flag on October 29th 2024. He will forever hold a special place in the hearts and memories of his family and friends.

Rule

Funeral services will be held Sunday, November 10, at 2 p.m. at the Duluth chapel of Bill Head Funeral Home.

Born on June 12, 1936 in Nashville Tenn., he was the only child of the late Georgia “Nana” Dulong and Robert Rule. It didn’t take long for Bob-Bo to start a life on the road that would become an epic adventure.

His journey started to take shape in 1942 when he moved to Detroit, Mich. to start school. According to his in-progress book, “I Never Had an Honest Job In My Life,” his working career started at the age of 6 working a paper route with a buddy, even though it is still unclear if he was ever paid.

 Throwing papers had to take a back seat in 1948 when the true Bob-Bo legacy began –– the day he picked up his first yo-yo. What started as an after-school “babysitter/toy” gave birth to one of the greatest yo-yo players ever. After a year of practice, he entered his first contest. He always said if we wanted something bad enough, it was in our hands. 1952 was the start of his career with Duncan Yo-Yo’s. They brought him on a part-time basis until 1955 when he was promoted to a Traveling Professional Yo-Yo Man –– a badge of honor only second to being a father and husband. He traveled the southeast for the next seven years going town to town, school to school, setting up yo-yo contests. Most of the time he was run off by “officials” because the Yo-Yo Man was looked down upon in those times. He described it like a drug dealer today.

September of 1962 would start the next chapter of his story… what he thought was a normal trip to Kentucky. He walked into Fairmeade Pharmacy to meet his contact for the next contest. It was then that he first saw Kathy Morris, an insurance saleswoman during the day and a pharmacy lunch counter worker on the weekends. In what could only be described as a fairytale story, Bob-Bo and Kathy were married six weeks later.

In 1965, the chance of an “off-the-road” job settled the two in Atlanta. At this time, Bob-Bo was the last professional player for Duncan. While the job offer turned out not to be real, they stayed in the Atlanta area and put down roots. Not being one to sit idle, he walked into a slot car track on the southside of Atlanta and asked for a job. This led him to open Model Car Speedway closer to home, which caught the attention of a local slot car manufacturer, Champion Slot Racing Products. The slot car chapter was somewhat short-lived but was incredibly important because of the friendships made. In July of 1967 the first little Rule, Kim (Rule) Pritchard, was born.

The next chapter of the story includes BoLINK RC Cars, and a second bundle of joy, Steve Rule. BoLINK became one of the Big 5 RC companies through the 1980’s. We lost Kathy in her fight with cancer in ‘88 and Bob-Bo became Mr. Mom to a college senior and a Momma’s boy. A long friendship with Billy and Joy Porter grew and they became a true part of the family and their daughter, Cheri (Porter) Prall, became something of a sister.

Along the way, there were many other accomplishments including Desert/Off-Road racing, 30+ years as a member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club serving as the executive secretary, being included in the Smithsonian Institute (Mr. Yo-Yo); countless television  appearances including his favorites, The Smothers Brothers Show; being a member of the American Yo-Yo Association and Slot Car Racing Hall of Fame; plus the winner of the 2002 Harvey Lowe (Yo-Yo) Award; and introducing NASCAR to their first timing system.

There is one more chapter that can’t be left out, one of the most important ones. It started May 26,1998. That was his first date with Elleda Marshall, Bob-Bo’s wife for the last 25 years.

This may not be a normal obituary, but Bob-Bo did not live a normal life.  He lived an extraordinary life full of adventure. Bob-Bo…Bob Rule…will be remembered as a great father, husband, friend and Yo-Yo Man!

Bob is survived by his wife, Elleda (Marshall) Rule; his daughters Kim (Charlie) Pritchard and Cheri (Brian) Prall; son Steve (Amy) Rule; daughter LeeAnne (Cris) Crapo; grandchildren Tyler Prall, Kiersten (Alex) Brown, Samantha (Daniel) Hetherington, Michaela (Tim) Jefferson, Chaz Pritchard, Kyle Rule, Rachel Maxwell, Connor Crapo and Owen Crapo; and great grandchildren McKenna Brown, and Baby Jefferson (May 2025); and rescue pup Big Boy.

In lieu of flowers, help with one of Bob’s biggest passions, rescue dogs. Make a donation to honor him to Musical Charities. This non-profit supports dog rescues through music events. Your donations will benefit the animals affected by hurricane Helene. Send to Venmo@musicalcharities.org or visit the website, www.musicalcharities.org. Checks may be mailed to Musical Charities, 425 Bruce Road, Douglasville, Ga. 30134.