Pennsylvania collector honors son’s memory by selling card collection, starting youth foundation
Feb. 27, 2022 began like any other day for Bill Reynolds and his son, Hunter.
They spoke on the phone as Hunter's grandmother drove him to practice around 9 a.m.
Only about 20 minutes after that conversation, Bill received a phone call no parent should ever receive. It was a heartbreaking and soul-crushing moment as Hunter had been killed in a car accident in Perry County.
Nothing would be the same from that moment forward.
The young, kind-hearted athlete lived and breathed sports. He was enamored by Steph Curry and his amazing skill set. His dad jokes that Hunter would rather talk about Steph Curry than do his homework. I think all we can all relate to that. Curry is probably much more exciting to talk about than fifth-grade math.
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Incredibly quick-witted, Hunter was always ready to give you the latest sports stats and talk trash about your favorite team. He was quick to crack a joke and share his bright smile.
He played on the Warrior Run football and basketball teams and participated in wrestling and soccer. A fiercely determined competitor, Hunter was also quick to lend a helping hand and look out for his teammates.
Hunter's dream was to play basketball for the University of Alabama and Bill, a retail manager, was willing to literally pick up and move south if it ever came to that. Knowing Bill, he wouldn't just have moved locations, he would have moved mountains for Hunter.
If his on-field aspirations didn't pan out, Hunter had dreams of being a coach or a play-by-play announcer. Sports were a huge part of his young life.
I had known Bill for several years as he and Hunter used to frequent the card shop on a regular basis to add some of those prized cards and pieces of memorabilia to their always growing collection. Bill stopped a handful of times after Hunter's passing.
It can be difficult to broach such a tragic topic, but Bill and I had a heart-to-heart conversation at Buffalo Wild Wings during last year's fantasy football draft, of all places. As we drafted McCaffrey and Mahomes and traded Jacksons for Allens, he and I sat off to the side and shared stories about life, our children, and the impossible situation he was dealing with. It was a conversation that my wife was part of, and it totally left her in tears.
Bill and I have stayed in touch mainly through Facebook and Facebook Messenger, but he recently reached out as he wanted to sell the remaining chunk of the collection he and his 11-year-old son had built.
After lunch at our local pizza joint, Bill stopped by the shop and he and I went through his entire card collection.
Even sitting across from Bill at lunch, I could see how raw the emotions still were three-and-a-half years after this unimaginable tragedy. Everyone deals with such circumstances in their own way. There is no playbook, no guidelines, and no right or wrong way.
Bill has shown more strength and character than I could even imagine, and for that, he will always have my utmost respect. He and Hunter's mother are no longer together (Bill is getting remarried in the coming months), and he mentioned that his father could still barely even talk about the immeasurable loss.
On to the seemingly insignificant aspect of trading cards … but, in reality, it is anything but insignificant. There were certain key cards Bill wanted to hang onto to keep Hunter's memory alive and keep the things he loved. He still has Hunter's room fully intact and continues to keep his memory alive by adding pieces of sports memorabilia and cards to the collection. He has a beautiful Curry autographed jersey that he bought from our shop years ago, still hanging on the wall.
As he carried boxes, tins and totes to the back of the shop, I took the time to sit down and go through it piece by piece. I've made countless deals for cards and collections over the years but, as one might imagine, this was an incredibly unique situation. I wanted to honor Bill's wishes. I wanted to honor Hunter's memory and do right by him, not only financially, but finding a home for these items.
We made a deal that Bill was very comfortable with and I started the process of piecing the collection out in the only way that made sense to me at the time. There were a few pieces that I wanted to add to my personal collection, not only because they were great cards but because I knew where they came from. I wanted to keep some of those in-house and close to us. The other cards we decided to price out and place in the showcases and let folks enjoy those great items as well.
And going through the collection, I couldn't help but notice Hunter's love for Alabama that showed through with countless Derek Henry rookies, multiple Julio Jones autographed rookies, and several other Alabama stars. The Reynolds boys knew what they were doing. They knew what they liked and they had a beautiful collection.
There were a number of rookie cards of household quarterbacks, such as Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. They built this together over the years.
I noticed a number of Odell Beckham, Jr. autographed rookie cards, and as I was going through those, I couldn't help but flash back to one of Hunter's on-field highlights—a one-handed catch similar to OBJ’s during his young career. I definitely kept the OBJ Immaculate RPA for my collection to honor all of those moments.
As a father of three kids of varying ages, I don't know that I can even let my mind go to a place that I could even begin to imagine what Bill and his family will be battling for the rest of their lives.
I can only hope to be here in some incredibly small way as he sees fit moving forward. I was honored that he reached out to me and trusted us in handling these cards that meant so much to him and Hunter, and I hope we did right by him.
The family continues to honor Hunter's memory and passion for sports through two programs.
Hunter's Heart & Hustle Foundation was established as a non-profit organization in the Central Pennsylvania community. The family, including president Holly Beck (Hunter's mother), uses the foundation to help young student-athletes participate in sports, despite their financial situation.
Hunter's Jersey Day is a tradition created in his honor as supporters far and wide wear their favorite sports jerseys on the first Friday in March to remember Hunter. The family is continuing this as a fundraiser in Hunter’s name. To this point, well over two dozen school districts in Central Pennsylvania are participating in Hunter's Jersey Day.
You can help honor Hunter’s memory and passion by donating at Hunter's Heart & Hustle Foundation, LLC.
— Tony Reid works in a card and hobby shop in central Pennsylvania and collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. You can reach him at @tonyreidwrites on all social media platforms.