Benny Shelby, pillar of Kansas City night life, dies at 77: ‘This was his community’
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Benny Shelby, a pillar of the Kansas City community remembered for his successful night clubs and dedication to youth sports, has died at age 77.
As a coach, he gave young Kansas Citians hope. As an entrepreneur, he gave older Kansas Citians a place to have fun.
Shelby, a gracious and easygoing man known by many as Uncle Benny, died Tuesday from complications from surgery.
Alongside his younger brother and lifelong business partner, Shelby established clubs that have become fixtures in the city’s entertainment scene, including the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Juke House and Restaurant, the Epicurean Lounge and Bodyworks Unlimited.
He was a devoted Kansas Citian who set his sights on bettering his community.
Andrea Shelby said while her father seemed to have a friend in each of the 50 states, and loved to travel to New Orleans and the Chiefs’ away games, he wouldn’t think of leaving Kansas City.
“This was where he grew up,” she said. “This was his community. This was where he put his money.”
An entrepreneur spirit
Benny Shelby started off as a railroad supervisor and an insurance salesman.
“But it just wasn’t fulfilling for him,” said Andrea Shelby, 53. “He needed to do more. He wanted to be his own boss. He wanted to be the driving force of his life.”
So he pivoted.
Together, Shelby and his younger brother, Calvin Shelby, set out to make a dream built on hard work and a little desperation, a reality.
Both Paseo High School alums and former football players, they noticed a need for more minority-owned businesses in the city.
In the early ‘70s, they started a sporting goods store.
Calvin Shelby believes it was one of the first Black-owned sporting good stores on this side of the Mississippi. They would later donate equipment, clothes and shoes to schools in the urban core.
The store closed several years later, and the brothers found more success as nightclub owners. It started with Epicurean Lounge at East 75th Street and Troost Avenue, then Bodyworks Unlimited 10 blocks away, and finally the Juke House in the historic 18th & Vine District.
Andrea Shelby eventually took over Juke House, after three decades watching her father at the helm.
She remembered a time in the ‘90s when two groups kept getting into fights on the streets. When they came to her father’s club, he sat them down for a conversation.
“When you come in here, you have to behave,” she recalled him saying. “No fighting. No killing each other ... you have to learn how to get along.”
Andrea Shelby was proud to see her father sit down with gang members and get them to reach a compromise.
The Shelby establishments had rules. Men couldn’t wear hats or tennis shoes on the dance floor, for example. Dress codes were in place. There was security.
As a result, the community knew it was a safe, clean place to have a good time, she said.
And have a good time they did.
A Star story from June 1996 details an evening at the club at which, shortly after midnight, Benny Shelby steps into the crowd, a beige hat with a feather perched on his head as he greets people with handshakes and a smile.
“There is no secret to the success we have had,” he told The Star then. “What I try to do is treat everybody the same.”
A dedication to youth
As young men, Benny and Calvin Shelby noticed how many youth came from broken homes or lacked father figures, relatives said. In that observation, they found another calling.
The brothers were athletes and sports enthusiasts who used their passion for athletics to help integrate the 3&2 baseball club of Kansas City, leading some of the league’s first Black teams to the championships, Calvin Shelby recalled.
Through the years, they sponsored and coached youth football, basketball and baseball teams across the city, leaning on tough love as a strategy to help build character in boys and young men, family said.
The Shelbys had expectations for their athletes, including that they attend school and respect their mothers.
“We ran a tight ship,” Calvin Shelby said, before admitting that they “softened up” later in life.
When news of Shelby’s passing spread, outpourings of gratitude and memories filled local Facebook groups. Many were from former athletes, now men, and their mothers, now grandmothers.
Many return to a favorite workout from Benny Shelby, his brother said.
“Coach Shelby always tell us, ‘run until he get tired’, and he was sitting down,” he mimicked the men saying, unable to contain his laughter.
Benny Shelby only recently retired from coaching the South Suburban Junior Football Association, his brother said.
“He just couldn’t quit coaching,” said Calvin Shelby, who ended his coaching career years earlier. “He touched a lot of young people’s lives, I’ll tell ya.”
Giving back
The Shelbys grew up hearing their mother’s prayers. Through conversations with God, she taught her children to serve their community, to give of themselves, and to work hard, Calvin Shelby said.
Through the Southeast Bar and Restaurant Association, which Benny Shelby was once president of, the brothers helped donate thousands of dollars in scholarships to young Kansas Citians headed off to college. It’s one of the things Calvin Shelby is most proud of.
Family said Benny Shelby was too humble to seek out the steady stream of accolades he acquired over his lifetime.
Calvin Shelby said if his brother had it his way, he’d be out of sight in the valley rather than on top of the mountain for all to see.
“He left the world a lot better than when he found it,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s a better calling than that one.”
Benny Shelby is survived by his wife of 41 years, four children, four siblings and one grandchild.
A public viewing is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 19, at Southside First Baptist Church at East 50th Street and Garfield Avenue, where Shelby was a member and trustee.
His funeral service is scheduled for Aug. 20 at Palestine Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ.
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
