George A. Freund 1920-2006

FREUND, KELSH, MCDONNELL, WAGNER, CONLON, TRIERVIELERDUFFY

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 6/2/2016 at 21:54:17

George A. Freund, 86, of 2850 Oak Meadow Court, died Monday, May 29, 2006, at home.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, with the Rev. Mark A. Ressler as the main celebrant. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Key West, Iowa, where military rites will be accorded by the American Legion, Dubuque Post 6 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. today at the church, where there will be a wake service at 6:30 p.m. Friends also may call after 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the church. The Hoffmann-Schneider Funeral Home, 1640 Main St., is in charge of arrangements.

A native Dubuquer, he was born April 27, 1920, son of Anton and Eleanor "Nellie" (Kelsh) Freund.

He married Lillian McDonnell on June 29, 1946, at St. Raphael's Cathedral. They parented eight children, six of whom survive.

He was educated at St. Raphael School, Columbia (Loras) Academy, and graduated from Loras College in 1941.

Mr. Freund entered the broadcasting business as an original staff member of radio station KDTH. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Force for 31/2 years, 21/2 of which were in Europe. Following World War II, he returned to KDTH as newscaster and program director.

He was a member of the Dubuque City Council from 1958 to 1960. In 1960, he joined the administration of Loras College. He retired as vice president for development in May 1985, but continued to be active in many college, church and civic affairs.

Mr. Freund was a charter member of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, where he was active for more than 50 years. He was a founding member and former president of the Serra Club of Dubuque, and he also served as district governor of Serra for Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Among other honors, he received the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award in 1985, and was named Dubuque's First Citizen in 1989 by the Telegraph Herald. Loras College conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at the 2000 commencement exercises.

He authored the history of the first 50 years of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, "Without a Wash Cloth," and wrote the preface for "Hometown Heroes," the World War II publication which he edited, and which was a Telegraph Herald publication. He also contributed to "Dubuque Folklore I and II," published by the American Trust and Savings Bank, and "Dubuque: the Encyclopedia," published by the First National Bank.

Surviving are his wife, Lillian; two sons and four daughters, Mary Elizabeth (William) Wagner, of Decorah, Iowa, John (Eleanor) Freund, Margaret Conlon and Thomas (Rae Ann) Freund, all of Dubuque, Teresa Freund (and special friend, Larry Boehnlein), of Milwaukee, and Catherine (Bret) Triervieler, of Dubuque; a daughter-in-law, Patricia Keefe Freund, of Renton, Wash.; 18 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; a sister, Mary Mildred Duffy, of Dubuque; two sisters-in-law, Mary McDonnell Ryan, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Marie McDonnell, of Tucson, Ariz.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by two sons, James Edward, who died in May 1949, and George Jr., who died in a bicycle accident in July 2000, in Seattle; and a brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Delia Freund.

Memorials may be given to the George Freund Jr. Scholarship at Loras College, St. Joseph the Worker Parish and Stonehill Benevolent Foundation.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.hoffmannschneider funeralhomes.com.

The family wishes to extend special thanks and appreciation to Doctors William Dall, Mark Hermann and David Zenk and their staffs.

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Wednesday, May 31, 2006