Bob Cassilly

Robert James Cassilly Jr. (November 9, 1949 – September 26, 2011) was an American sculptor, entrepreneur, and creative director. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Cassilly was the founder of the idiosyncratic City Museum, which draws over 700,000 visitors a year and is one of the city's leading tourist attractions.

Cassilly was born in Webster Groves, Missouri, to a homemaker and a building contractor. He began skipping school by age 14 to work as an apprentice for a local sculptor, Rudolph Torrini. Cassilly graduated from Vianney High School, then earned a bachelor's degree in art from Fontbonne University in St. Louis.

While at Fontbonne University, Cassilly met and married his first wife, painter and printmaker Cecelia Davidson. Together they restored over 36 dilapidated Victorian buildings, built and ran a restaurant in Lafayette Square. They sold the restaurant, which allowed them to move to Hawaii, where he carved wooden figures. Cassilly reportedly grew tired of Hawaii and returned to his native St. Louis. While earning a master's degree in art at his alma mater, Fontbonne, he met his second wife, sculptor Gail Soliwoda. They remained business partners until their divorce in 2002.

In May 1972, Cassilly was on his first honeymoon. They were visiting St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City when Laszlo Toth attacked Michelangelo's The Pieta. Cassilly was the first to act and subdued Toth.

...
Wikipedia