Wayne Kaufman — or, "Red the Barber," as he was known — cut hair in Aurora for 63 years.
The longtime barber retired earlier this year, reluctantly, because of the pandemic.
Four days ago, he died at the age of 87, from complications due to COVID-19, his widow tells WBBM Newsradio Steve Miller.
"I'd always know when somebody called on the phone and asked for 'Red the Barber,' that was a barber shop person he knew," she said Wednesday.
"He loved it. It was his life," Mrs. Kaufman says of her husband's career. "He loved the customers and he knew them all by name."
She said he called it quits six months ago, because of the coronavirus. He referred to it as a "forced retirement," she said.
Then a month ago, he had to go to the hospital. He died Dec. 26 from coronavirus-related complications.
"I don't know how he contracted it but we didn't have it here. We were COVID-free at this house," his widow said.
