Photo 
Shawn Dooley
Shawn Dooley
JANESVILLE — Dools was no stranger. If you didn’t know him, he was just a friend you hadn’t met yet.
That’s how longtime girlfriend Renee Lyke solemnly described Shawn “Dools” Dooley, 42, who died of natural causes June 3 at UW-Hospital in Madison.
“He accepted everybody for who they were,” she said quietly from a barstool at Dool’s Pub & Grub, the pub at 967 S. Jackson St. in Janesville that she co-owned with Dooley. “He made friends wherever he went,” she said, adding he lived by the phrase, ‘There are no strangers, just friends you have yet to meet.’
Dooley, a 1984 graduate of Janesville Craig High School, immersed himself in the community, doing everything he could for friends and the people around him, Lyke said.
Dools was a thankless giver, she said. If somebody needed help, he’d help, no questions asked.
“There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you,” said Shane Weir, owner of Weirdo’s Bar and Grill, 209 W. Milwaukee St. “If you needed anything, nothing was out of the question”
Being a good neighbor wasn’t Dools’ only passion.
With an autographed photo of a bloodied Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan behind him, Shannon Dooley reminisced about his brother’s love for sports.
“He was always going to ball games,” Shannon said.
“The biggest question people are asking is, ‘Who am I going to rival with?’” Lyke added, noting Dools was an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Nationals.
But Dools didn’t just love national sports. He was a member of many local sports leagues, including softball, pool and dart leagues, Shannon said.
Dools also enjoyed hunting any animal he could find, from small game and waterfowl to deer, Lyke said. And you could find him on the waterways fishing, particularly deep-sea fishing the tropical waters of Costa Rica.
Lyke recalled the many trips she and Dools took to the Central American nation.
“It was great to just get away and not to worry about anything,” she said, noting that even when she and Dools were in Costa Rica, he would make so many friends that by the end of their trip they would try and convince him not to leave.
Costa Rica was only one of Dools’ favorite getaway spots. He often found himself with friends and loved ones in Las Vegas.
Weir said he and Dools visited Sin City several times, most of the time while on business.
“We just had a ton in common (being in the same business),” Weir said.
Brad Vincent, owner of Bad Brad’s, 907 Rockport Road, says he’s going to miss Dools’ company the most.
Vincent reminisced about a trip to Monroe to purchase cheese from various cheese factories. He said Dools, along with several other bar owners and community members, rented a bus for the trip.
Afterward, the group would bring cheese and summer sausage to the pub for special events, such as dinners or holidays for those who didn’t have families to celebrate with.
Weir said Dools was close to many in the community, especially fellow bar owners.
“It’s like losing a family member,” Weir said. “He is somebody that will really be missed.”