Man behind Marty Panel ads dies

Yesterday's News-Sentinel reported on the death of Bill Bosworth Thomas, the founder of Panel Mart and the man behind a 20-year ad campaign featuring a puppet named Marty Panel. I never saw the ads, but his son makes him sound like a fun guy:

“When I was a teenager trying to impress girls, he'd always pop around the corner as Marty Panel saying, ‘Hey, what are you kids doing there,'” said Mike Thomas, who noted his father was making jokes and laughing with his family the afternoon before his death.

Obit and memorial service info here.