Bruce Flower outside the Swiss Avenue home that once belonged to Doris Adkisson, a.k.a. the matriarch of the Von Erich wrestling legacy.
The Von Erich family can only be described as a Texas sports phenomenon who helped propel professional wrestler into our popular culture with their antics in the ring. Born Jack Adkisson, patriarch Fritz Von Erich was the first to take on a fighting alter-ego, and five of his sons followed in his footsteps. But their glory would be marred by tragedy, including the untimely deaths of four of the six Von Erich children.
After losing her husband and most of her children, matriarch Doris Adkisson took up residence on Swiss Avenue, in a two-story Victorian designed by architect C.P. Sites and built sometime between 1915 and 1919 (there are discrepancies on the date). She lived there from 2000 to 2006.
Later, the home was bought by wrestling fanatic Bruce Flowers, who we profiled along with the house, back in 2009. For more on the Von Erich legacy and tragedy, check out Preston Hollow crime writer Skip Hollandsworth’s profile in D Magazine.
