By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Abelin Conde may not have been a familiar name to much of Bowling Green – but his flag adorned bicycle made him a moving landmark in the community.
“It just won’t be the same without ‘Texas’ pedaling around town,” Shirley Woessner said as she entered a memorial service for Conde last week.
Abelin “Abe” “Texas” Conde was born July 8, 1940, in San Benito, Texas. He died June 13, at the Wood County Hospital.
As a young man, Conde reportedly worked as a truck driver out of Chicago. He labored as a migrant worker in Florida and Michigan, and worked at a cotton mill until a work accident took four fingers of his left hand.
When he first moved to Wood County, he lived in Dunbridge and would pedal his way to Bowling Green nearly every day. For the last 22 years, Conde lived in the Arbors apartment complex near Walmart in Bowling Green.
“He knew a lot of people apparently,” Deacon Phil Avina, of St. Aloysius, said as he looked over those gathered in the pews at Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home.
“Abe made Bowling Green his home,” Avina said. “He traveled the streets day after day.”
“He was a kind man and loved by those who knew him,” Avina continued. “He was some sort of landmark, like the courthouse or the football stadium. You always expected him to be there.”
His latest bicycle – that took him to church, McDonald’s and Walmart – stood at the front of the chapel.
“Yes, there are bicycles in heaven,” Avina assured.
And at least one now might have plates saying “Don’t Mess with Texas” – like the one Conde rode around Bowling Green.
Even those who never met Conde, except in passing on the streets, left messages about the loss to the community. One person wrote that they had seen Conde more than a thousand times, with his flags waving and trinkets bobbing as he rode past.
“You seemed to always be in a happy place when you rode by me,” the person wrote. “You just took your time to enjoy your surroundings.”
A silhouette of Conde riding his bike was included in the community mural at the corner of East Poe Road and North College Avenue.
After riding his bike to destinations around the city, Conde enjoyed sitting watching people at Walmart, Big Lots, Arby’s, and Goodwill.
Many at the memorial service knew Conde more than just in passing.
Ray Ybanes, of Bowling Green, first met Conde in 2007.
“He was outside sitting on the bench at Walmart,” Ybanes said.
“He used to go to McDonald’s to have breakfast every morning,” and quite often Ybanes would join him.
Kathy Konrad also met Conde when he was sitting, waiting for a dentist appointment. Her children, very young at that point, asked Conde about his missing fingers.
“We just kind of hit it off,” Konrad said, recalling that her dad often helped Conde with bike repairs.
Conde left his storied bicycle to Konrad – complete with its four large flashlights zip-tied to the frame.
“I’m going to donate it to the historical society, so everybody can enjoy it,” Konrad said.
Linda Reynolds met Conde at the senior center.
“He’s been a friend of mine ever since,” she said.
Jean Ladd met him at Walmart.
“He would sit in Walmart and watch people going by,” Ladd said. “We called him an angel in disguise.”
Maria DeWitt met Conde at McDonald’s.
“I was coming in for a quick lunch,” and found a friend for the next 15 years.
“He was just family,” DeWitt said. “We became good friends. He would come over for Christmas and Easter dinners.”
Conde could also be found sitting during his weekly stops at the First Presbyterian Church Deacons’ Shop, where he acted as a translator for many who could not speak English. He would often pick up items that he knew others could use.
Janet DeLong, who organizes the Deacons’ Shop, said Conde had his regular chair to sit in as he watched over the shop. He would often chat with the men while the women shopped.
“He was a friendly face to Hispanic people who came in,” DeLong said.
“He kept track of the farm community and knew just when to expect workers to arrive in the area,” DeLong said. “He shopped for several people, who were not able to come into the shop.”
Then, “he would pack things onto his bike and off he would go,” DeLong said.
