Robert Mitchell, ticket seller and fan

Robert J. "Bulge" Mitchell, 58, of Drexel Hill, a ticket salesman and disc jockey who popularized a Flyers hockey slogan, died of heart failure Saturday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

For almost 40 years, Mr. Mitchell sold tickets for every professional sports team in the city, for rock concerts at the Spectrum and Upper Darby's Tower Theater, and for Philadelphia Orchestra performances at the Academy of Music and Kimmel Center. He also attended games and performances, said Jim Bell, a longtime friend and owner of Sherry's ticket office in Center City.

"Bobby had been to the Super Bowl and the World Series and every major sports championship," Bell said.

For years, he said, Mr. Mitchell organized bus trips to the Jimmy Buffett concert at the Mann Music Center in Fairmount Park. Until the early 1990s, Mr. Mitchell was a summertime DJ at Jack's restaurant in Avalon, N.J.

"His zest for life was as big as his stomach," Bell said.

Mr. Mitchell was nicknamed "Bulge" by the Christian Brothers who taught him at West Philadelphia Catholic High School. In recent years diabetes caused him to lose weight, and he joked he was "Bulge Light," Bell said.

After graduating from high school, Mr. Mitchell went to work in the Flyers' ticket office. In the early 1970s, the team and its star goalie, Bernie Parent, won two Stanley Cups. Mr. Mitchell capitalized on their success by producing popular bumper stickers printed with the slogan "Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent."

Since 1980, Mr. Mitchell had been married to Linda Herpel Mitchell. Her mother had been a den mother for his Cub Scout pack in Southwest Philadelphia.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Dennis, and two brothers.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. today at the O'Leary Funeral Home, 640 E. Springfield Rd., Springfield, Delaware County. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Bernadette Church, 1035 Turner Ave., Drexel Hill. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.

Memorial donations may be made to West Catholic Alumni Association, 4501 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, 19139.