Anthony L. Mitchell

My name is ANTHONY LE’ROY MITCHELL. My friends call me “Red Dog”. I was born on January 12, 1955 to the late Leon and Arletta Mitchell. I attended Baltimore City Schools and graduated from Lake Clifton High School in 1973 for Automotive Mechanic Engineering. One of my favorite pastimes was playing basketball and I became a member of the basketball team at Lake Clifton High School and later with my employer at Blue Cross Blue Shield. I began working at Blue Cross Blue Shield in December of 1974. I was the Supervisor of the Bowie Room. I also worked at the US Postal Service and Miller Refrigeration. I loved working at Miller Refrigeration. I learned all about air conditioning, refrigeration, how to crack a safe and how to service hot dog and soda machines. As everyone knows, I loved working with my hands. I’m an avid lover of fast cars and big trucks. In 1976 I got my first hard shell van that was empty without anything in it. My father gave me all the tools that I needed to build a fully custom van. I cut in sunroof porthole windows, and added one of a kind bright shiny pipes, with zoomies, “Zoom Zoom”. My Mother would always say “Here comes Tony, you can hear him two blocks away, I don’t know why he wants to wake the neighborhood up”. My van was red on red with a full body bulldog with a spike collar on his neck, spray-painted on the back doors. The bulldog became the trademark of my van. I named my truck the “Dog House”. Originally, I was a member of a club called the Nomad’s, First Brady Van Club in Baltimore. We were very big and we took over the whole city and Druid Hill Park. We met at the Oak Tree in Mondawmin Shopping center. Most of the vans were on the west side of town. The club broke up and another club by the name of Star Fleet Van Club started. After all the riding back and forwards across town, I decided to head back to what I called home on the East side. Two clubs were started “East Side Van Pak” and “North East Van Pak”. I was the President of North East Van Pak. Collaboratively, the two Van Paks had over 150 members. Every weekend we rode around town, literally taking over the City and the Parks. We had the type of fun that I cannot talk about. But, you should know that I had a complete BLAST. We went to the Van Truck Inn’s up and down the east coast, partying with other clubs in various towns and states. My wife frequently joined us and we all partied and had a blast together. My wife and I also enjoyed camping outdoors together. Linda didn’t mind the bugs as long as she was with me! We were united in holy matrimony, November 20, 2010. In May of 2016, I was told that I only had two months to live; however, my Lord and Savior saw otherwise and allowed me more time with my family and friends. During this time, I kept busy working on my two vans, preparing them for my sons, in hopes that they will follow in my footsteps, enjoying big trucks and hot rods. God truly blessed my life. I was blessed with wonderful supportive parents, who left me with four awesome siblings, Joyce, Leon, Colleen, and Darlene. From my siblings I was blessed with a host of nieces and nephews. He later, blessed me with two wonderful sons, Tony (Rasheeda) and Dwayne (Markia). He also blessed me with my loving wife, Linda, my daughter Melissa and my furry daughter Bow Wow (Girlie Girl). I was blessed with six grandchildren, Dwayne Jr., Omari, D’Mone, Laila, Malia and Kamiya. I cannot forget to mention all of my Van Club members and all of my good friends from Cecil Avenue and North East Baltimore; I got nothing but love for all of you. So, this is my story, this is my song, I’ll be praising our Savior all day long….Hang in there until we meet again.

Tributes

Anthony L. Mitchell

January 12, 1955 - December 9, 2016