‘Franklin County Woman’ star dies

The song “Franklin County Woman,” with a country beat and Columbus references, turned two musicians into local celebrities in 1978.

Robert “Cowboy Bob” Hummel once said that the song’s popularity hit home when he and bandmate Neil Walter appeared that year at a local country-music show.

“When we set up on the stage, they (opened) the curtains and there were 5,000 screaming girls,” he told The Dispatch in 1979.

Hummel, 71, died Tuesday at his home near Johnstown. He had been ill with a form of lymphoma, said his wife, Jojo Hummel.

In the late 1970s, Robert Hummel, a graphic designer and teacher of medical illustration at Ohio State University, formed a band with Walter, a history

teacher at Worthington (now Thomas Worthington) High School who now lives in Florida. They called it Rainbow Canyon C.B.

At the urging of friends, they made a vinyl record of “Franklin County Woman,” written by Walter and Mark Harbold, according to the record label.

The song’s lyrics begin:

My Franklin County woman, to me she is a queen,

She lives in south Columbus, ’cross from Schottenstein’s,

Drives a ’50 Chevrolet, got skirts and mudflaps, too,

My Franklin County woman on Parsons Avenue.

The recording drew heavy local-radio play, and Schottenstein’s, a Robert “Cowboy Bob” Hummel long-departed South Side department store, hosted appearances by Hummel and Walter.

The record inspired at least one “Franklin County Woman” contest, with people dressing as the title character (described in the lyrics as a “redhead, red-neck baby”).

Neither Hummel nor Walter turned their local success into wider prominence. Both said they liked their day jobs, and they continued to entertain in their free time at area venues.

Hummel, a guitar player, was born in Grove City. He always loved music and formed several bands while at Grove City High School, said his sister, Susan Ridley, of Dripping Springs, Texas.

In the years after “Franklin County Woman” (and a 1988 sequel called “FCW 10 Years Later”), Hummel began performing with Jojo, his second wife, whom he married in 1985. She said they especially enjoyed performing at nursing homes and retirement communities.

“We’d dress up in cowboy clothes and play for the seniors, and they loved it.”

In addition to his wife and sister, Hummel is survived by his son, Ian, who also is a musician.

Funeral services for Hummel will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3220 Columbus St., Grove City.