CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio -- If you grew up in Summit County, chances are you've walked through Mr. Fun's Costumes and Magic Emporium, looking for the right severed hand, gorilla mask or sparkling tiara to perfect your look.

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, Mr. Fun himself, also know as Al Pocock, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Cuyahoga Falls. Family and friends who knew Pocock say the costume and party industry was more than career, it was a reflection of the man's passion for life and laughter

"Everybody knew him and loved him. He always helped people find something that brought them joy," said Heather Smith, Pocock's daughter. "Stink bombs, itch power and silly string; he just loved to create an environment where everyone could find something that made them happy."

"He played expert level practical jokes on people," his son Andy wrote on Facebook, "Jokes where the punchline might not hit for days."

Al also had a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, and had them made from holiday-themed fabric he found in his travels. And he collected clowns, and was just a few clowns short of making the Guinness Book of World Records.

And although Al and his wife, Carol, started out as teachers, they discovered early on they had an aptitude, and a passion, for the costume and party, and outdoor amusement industries.

Al's master's degree in public speaking made him a natural for the spotlight, while Carol master's in mathematics created the structured platform they would need for the many businesses they operated simultaneously.

Al and Carol Pocock threw many parties, and once had the University of Akron Steel Drum Band perform on their deck.

It started in 1968 when Al, for summer employment, bought a French waffle truck, which he took to fairs and festivals. From there, the Pococks bought a busy fun services franchise that operated school carnivals, which were fundraisers for the schools. They concurrently grew the waffle trailer into a small concessions business operating at fairs and festivals around Ohio.

As an offshoot of the fun services franchise, the Pocoks launched the country's first Santa's Secret Shop, which enabled school children to shop for inexpensive holiday gifts for their families in the schools. It's a business still going strong across the U.S.

Then, through a friend in the National Costumers Association, the couple learned that the costume business was poised for big growth. In the late 1980s, they opened a small shop on Wyoga Lake Road that was cramped but always busy.

"It was all so new then and, with no Amazon, the Halloween business just grew and grew," Carol said. "We had no business plan or anything. We just tumbled into things. It was a very exciting time."

In 2004, they outgrew the Wyoga Lake site and moved the Mr. Fun costume shop to the old State 8 skate arena on State Road in Cuyahoga Falls, where it is today.

At one point, the Pocock's had four costume shops around Northeast Ohio, which they eventually sold to their employees, except Mr. Fun in the Falls, which is run by their son Andy's wife Meralie.

On the Facebook post, Andy announced his father's passing and wrote of his dad's love for helping others reach their fullest potential and of his belief in service, to his faith, to his community and to the professional organizations he served.

"The most important thing to know about my father is how he touched people's lives," Pocock wrote about his dad's affinity for introducing people who could learn from one another.

He also wrote about his dad's sense of humor, and his love of parties.

At one of the couple's notorious Spring Fling parties, the Pococks had about 75 people come to their house at Tappan Lake, overflowing into the small motels in the area. They once hosted upwards of 45 people at their condo in Cuyahoga Falls.

"We got to know a lot of wonderful people who were like Al, who had all these great ideas," Carol said. "It was always an adventure."

At one bash, Al hired a Mariachi band from Detroit. Because they had to drive so far, he booked them two other gigs on the way to the party to make the drive worth their while.

For his 60th birthday, he brought in his favorite music, hiring a gospel act of identical triplets to perform. And he once had The University of Akron Steel Drum Band perform on his deck.

In the last few years of his life, Pocock helped Andy, who now owns Mr. Fun's Concessions, by selling novelties and souvenirs on the midway at Ohio fairs and festivals, one of his favorite jobs. With his outgoing style and sense of humor, Mr. Fun could still outsell all the other carnies.

"He was the best novelty agent I ever saw in my life," he said. "They were putty in his hands."

As of Friday, hundreds of area residents had shared stories on Andy's Facebook post of the joy Pocock had brought them over the years.

"Don't be sad because he's gone," Andy wrote. "Be glad because he was here. In fact, he's still here. There's a part of him in everyone he ever met and on every midway he ever played. You can hear him chuckling if you listen."

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