Chuck Frundt and his faithful dog companion. Frundt never wanted much attention for all the things he did in the Blue Earth community.

Charles “Chuck” Frundt was a pretty humble guy.

Frundt, who passed away this past Dec. 1, was involved in many aspects of life in the Blue Earth community, but he never wanted, or sought out, recognition for all of the things he volunteered for.

In fact, when he was selected as the Blue Earth Chamber’s Community Service Award recipient in 2013, he at first said he didn’t deserve it and did not want to accept it.

Eventually he did, saying he felt honored and humbled.

“My dad was involved in so many things in the community of Blue Earth that we decided not to try and list them all in his obituary,” his son, David Frundt, says. “We really were not sure how many things he was involved in.”

The list was pretty long, indeed.

Chuck Frundt was a Boy Scout, and an Eagle Scout, as a boy, and his love of the Boy Scouts continued as an adult. He was a Boy Scout leader, assisted on campouts and was on the regional Boy Scout Council out of Mankato for many years.

He was a long-time member of the Blue Earth Kiwanis Club, serving on the board and as an officer.

“We went to the international Kiwanis Convention when he was president of the Blue Earth club,” David Frundt says. “It was in Anaheim, California, and we went as a family trip. And, yes, we did go to Disneyland, too.”

Frundt was on so many committees at his church, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, his family lost track. That included being a reader/lector, and helping lead the service at St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center.

Chuck Frundt was also on several of the St. Luke’s boards, and served as their attorney. He did the same at United Hospital District, serving on the board and also acting as their attorney.

He was also on the Blue Earth Foundation board, the Faribault County Fitness Center board, and several others.

One of those other boards was the Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services Board. It was supported by lawyers who supplied free legal services to persons who could not afford an attorney.

“My dad never made a big deal out of any of that,” David Frundt says. “He just always wanted to help out wherever he was needed.”

Charles Kane Frundt was born in Blue Earth on Nov. 2, 1942.

He grew up in the house his grandfather had built, and he and his wife, Rita, would eventually live in that same house raising their three children.

“Chuck lived almost his entire life in that house,” Rita Frundt says. “He only lived out of the house when he went to college, and for about 10 months after we were married.”

Chuck attended Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic School in Blue Earth through the ninth grade.

“Sometimes the nuns would send him home for some reason, and that was just across the street,” Rita Frundt says. He wasn’t really a trouble maker, Rita adds, but sometimes he needed a break or to get something at home.

Speaking of breaks, one time Chuck was upstairs in the house and he was leaning out the open window, Rita relates.

“He fell out the window, hit the overhang on the front porch and then the ground,” Rita Frundt says. “His mother called the Catholic priest instead of the ambulance. We laugh that maybe she wanted the priest to give Chuck last rites.”

Actually the priest was just across the street and could be there quickly to help.

Chuck graduated from Blue Earth High School in 1960. While there he played football and wrestled.

“My dad was pretty good at wrestling, not so much at football,” David Frundt says. “He qualified for state one year in wrestling, but broke his thumb and couldn’t compete at state.”

After graduation Chuck went to St. Thomas College and wrestled there one year. This time he broke his collarbone and that effectively ended his wrestling career.

“But he continued to love wrestling and went to many of the high school matches,” David Frundt relates. “He also went to the state wrestling tournament, whether Blue Earth had any wrestlers competing or not.”

One thing Chuck Frundt did not compete in during high school or college was tennis, which was a bit strange.

“My dad loved tennis,” David Frundt says. “He played a lot of tennis in high school and all through his life, and loved to watch tennis, especially his grandsons. He just played for fun, never on the school team.”

When he went to St. Thomas, Chuck majored in, and got his degree in, biology. He had planned to become a doctor.

But that changed and he went to the University of Minnesota Law School instead.

While he was there he met two other law students, who would become Chuck’s lifelong friends.

He would also meet his future wife, Rita, on a blind date.

“A classmate of mine at St. Benedict’s set us up,” Rita recalls. “We went to a law school dance.”

In 1967 Chuck joined the National Guard and was at basic training for six months. He also graduated from law school in 1967.

Chuck and Rita were married in May of 1968 in St. Paul and soon moved to Blue Earth. Chuck joined his father’s law firm, which at that time was named Frundt and Hibbs.

“It was located on Main Street, on the south side of the hotel where the Register office is now,” Rita Frundt says.

The current Frundt, Lundquist and Gustafson law office was the Blue Earth Medical Center, with Dr. Drexler.

“They moved to the hospital and the law office moved in,” David Frundt says. “It became Frundt and Johnson in the mid-1970s. Then it became Frundt, Johnson and Roverud for a while, until Brian Roverud became county attorney.

Chuck Frundt’s father, John Henry Frundt, retired in 1985. Chuck Frundt retired in 2013.

In retirement, Chuck kept on volunteering wherever he thought he could be of service.

He also pursued his hobbies.

“Chuck loved to read,” Rita says. “He always had a book by his side.”

He also loved to travel, go to the family lake cabin up north, fish, golf occasionally and swim in the lake.

And, of course, watch and play a lot of tennis.

At his funeral back on Dec. 14, there were two surprise visitors. One came all the way from Texas, the other from the Twin Cities.

Both of them had lived at Chuck and Rita’s home in Blue Earth for a spell, years ago, when each had been a teenager.

Rita says she and Chuck took them in at the time because, well, they just needed a place to stay for a while.

“Chuck just believed we should open our home to people we knew who needed a place to stay,” Rita says. “So we did. It was the way he was.”