Heartwarming Delivery: Skyline Chili For Homebound Customer

FORT THOMAS, Ky. (AP) – Skyline Chili time happened at World War II Navy veteran Floyd "Bub" Basham’s hospital bed and house thanks to four heartwarming deliveries.
    
Lois Basham, Bub’s wife, noticed her friend Newport Skyline manager Brian Clifton outside a hospital doorway with a look of concern and chili a month ago.
    
Bub, 90, had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, she said.
    
"We had three-ways and coneys and it was delightful," Bub’s wife said. "It’s just so nice to have friends like that."
    
A fourth delivery, this time to Bub at his Fort Thomas home, was captured in a video shared on Facebook by Bub’s daughter Lori Basham Voss.
    
In the video, Clifton knocks on the elderly man’s door saying "Hey Bub, how you doing?"
    
The Skyline manager carries in a bulging plastic bag.
    
"I wanted to bring it to you because we miss you down there," Clifton said. "We love you down there. We miss you."
    
For 20 years, Bub and Lois have come to the Newport Skyline with six friends after Sunday services at Christ Church United Church of Christ in Fort Thomas.
    
"They have the table all set for us and they treat us like royalty," Bub’s wife said.
    
The Newport Skyline manager spoke about why he delivers to Bub in the following written statement:
    
"I don’t do it for gain. I do it because that couple has came into Skyline for years. Has touched our employees beyond words. He gave one of my servers his Joey Votto bat because he knows she loves Joey Votto. I did it because I know it’s upsetting to be in that bed and not get to eat your favorite meal and enjoy the company. I did it out of love and I did it out (of) respect. Respect is an amazing thing. My staff loves and respects him very much."
    
Bub, a lifelong Fort Thomas resident, was born on the second floor of the former Stegner Grocery operated by his grandparents. The Fort Thomas Independent Schools offices at the corner of Miller Lane and North Fort Thomas Avenue sit atop the grocery site now. Lois and Bub are active donors and supporters of Fort Thomas Education Foundation – which supports the public school district.
    
He has lived in the same house a few doors down from the former store his whole life.
    
"He’s lived within 50 yards of where he grew up his entire life," Lois Basham said of her husband. "How many people can say that?"
    
The Bashams were named grand marshals of the 2018 Fort Thomas Independence Day parade. Bub couldn’t go because of his health. Lois rode in the car for both of them.
    
Basham loves two Cincinnati institutions.
    
"His whole basement is filled with Reds memorabilia," said his daughter. "He is a huge Reds fan and a huge Highlands High School fan."
    
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com