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Humpy remembered as a spirit unconquered

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Kevin 'Humpy' Struble while hospitalized in Portsmouth, N.H. (Courtesy Len Muscato)

STERLING, Va. - In the face of withering health issues that left him wheelchair-bound and dependent on caregivers, Kevin "Humpy" Struble kept his dignity, his pride and his sense of humor.

"It blew my mind for looking at things the way he did," said longtime high school chum Len Muscato by phone on Thursday. "I talked to him earlier this year and he was joking, 'I got a ramp for this, a ramp for that, but I'm doing fine.'"

Struble, 57, died Wednesday morning in a fire that consumed his bungalow-style home at 185 Baker's Grant Road in Lebanon.

The fire started in the basement, but due to the extensive damage to the structure, the exact cause cannot be determined, fire officials said Thursday. Struble's body was found in the living room near his wheelchair.

Struble grew up in the small borough of Butler, N.J., where his family was well-respected and liked. His mother was a teacher and his father was an electrician and former mayor.

Muscato said they had become friends in high school where they worked together in the school's cafeteria. He said Struble was captain of the football team.

The two reconnected in 1980 when they both served as firefighters in adjacent New Jersey boroughs: Muscato was a firefighter in Bloomingdale, while Struble volunteered in Butler.

They soon learned they both had an affinity for motorcycling on their Harleys. Muscato said Butler had acquired a 1952 Panhead which he lovingly restored, even finding a sidecar that was adaptable to it. He also had a 1981 Electra Glide.

Through the '80s the two would travel annually to Daytona Bike Week in Florida and tour closer to home nearly every summer weekend.

It was during this time that Struble, a giant of a man at 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds, drew his nickname "Humpy."

"We were at the beach and Humpy was sunbathing and someone said to him, 'You look like a beached humpback whale.' Well it stuck," Muscato said. "Humpy loved it and later got a humpback whale belt buckle that he wore."

After Struble moved to Lebanon the two saw each other less, but Muscato returned in October of 2013 to visit his old biking buddy at a Portsmouth, N.H., hospital.

"He was having circulatory problems, but he was in good spirits," Muscato said. "Humpy always enjoyed a beer and I remember the nurses wouldn't let me give it to him, but they let me leave a six-pack at the nurses' station and they'd ration it out," Muscato recalled fondly.

He said shortly after he left Stuble that visit, his legs were amputated.

Before his health issues surfaced, Struble worked as a mechanic in his garage at the foot of his driveway on Baker's Grant Road.

He also worked part time for a couple of years at the Milton Elementary School as a janitor where he was well-liked and a good worker, said Milton School District facilities manager Bob Adams.

Struble was a widower, having lost his wife five years ago. His mother, Helen Struble, died in July in Florida.

"He'd had a rough time the past few years," said Geneva Nice, a neighbor. "But he was so nice. He was nice to the kids, too."

Nice said even though Struble was disabled he still liked to hang out in his garage with his buddies.

His favorite thing to do was ice fishing, said Muscato, who now lives in Sterling, Va.

"I talked to him a couple of times this year," he said. "I wish I'd come up more."

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