‘Fighting for life,’ another downtown Boise bar owner has coronavirus

If you’ve ever been bar hopping in Boise, chances are, you’ve found yourself partying inside Humpin’ Hannah’s. It’s been a Main Street staple since 1978.

And if you’ve been to Hannah’s, you know the face of the place: Rocci Johnson, leader of the Rocci Johnson Band. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ve even met Johnson’s friendly husband, Dick Dufenhorst. He’s one of the three original partners who founded the bar.

Tragically, he’s now also a victim of COVID-19. “Violently ill,” Johnson wrote Wednesday on Facebook, Dufenhorst has been “fighting for his life.”

It’s unclear where he was infected.

As I wrote last week when another downtown Boise bar owner was hospitalized, we can debate whether Idaho bars have done enough to slow the spread of the virus. Johnson expressed disappointment recently about the latest order to close Boise bars again.

But, as I also wrote, one thing that we absolutely cannot argue about? This virus is a truly terrible thing. Nobody deserves it.

I can’t put this frightening situation into better words than Johnson has on Facebook: “Wear the mask, and wear it proudly,” she urged.

Here’s her widely shared post:

This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 9:18 AM.