A. F. "Fred" Grundel
Burial Details
Obituaries
Eagle Valley Enterprise page 1 - December 9, 1927
FRED GRUNDEL CALLED TO HIS LAST REWARD. Pioneer of Leadville and Gypsum Passes Away Saturday
Morning - Was a Picturesque Figure in Early Days of This Country.
Following months of severe illness A. F. GRUNDEL, pioneer citizen of Leadville and
Gypsum valley passed away at the home of his niece, Miss Hilma GRUNDEL, in
Gypsum last Saturday morning, December 3. Mr. GRUNDEL would have been 73
years of age next March. For several years Mr. GRUNDEL had been a sufferer with
a chronic aliment and last spring he was stricken with paralysis, and for weeks he
hovered between life and death. He rallied a few weeks ago visited friends in
Leadville and went from there to Denver for treatment. Later he returned home and
was at once confined to his bed from which he never rose. A native of Sweden, Mr. GRUNDEL came to the United States when a youth and
took up his residence in Leadville in 1878, where he became one of the leading and
progressive citizens, being honored many times by positions of trust and honor by
his fellow citizens. His brother, August came to Eagle County in the early day and in
conjunction with the deceased owned one of the big ranches in Gypsum Valley.
When Fred retired from business in Leadville about 17 years ago he came to the
ranch which he and his brother conducted until they sold it some nine or ten years
ago. At the time of the sale, it was the biggest single ranch deal ever made in the
County.
In speaking of Mr. GRUNDEL's death the Leadville Herald Democrat of last
Sunday had the following character sketch:
"The figure of Fed GRUNDEL has not often been seen on Leadville streets within
the past few years, but when his old friends have greeted him when he occasionally
came up from his home in Gypsum, they saw a feeble man walking with halting gait,
evidently suffering from deep-seated illness, but whose handshake was hearty and
whose smile was a genial as ever.
But in an earlier day, Fred GRUNDEL was a more familiar figure here. An active
business man, a busy public official and an enterprising and public spirited citizen,
he played a not inconspicuous part in the life of the community.
"The records say that Fred GRUNDEL came to Leadville in 1878 and that he
engaged in mining here. He grubstaked many a prospector and in several instances
at least, these brought him fair financial returns.
"The story of his life, however, is clustered about the old Pioneer, which had become
almost a land mark in the early eighties, When fire destroyed the Pioneer and many
other buildings, GRUNDEL built the new Pioneer, a famous resort and showplace
for the tourists, over which Fred presided, and maintained it as one of the most
orderly and well conducted business houses in the city. Fred saw no disgrace in
being a saloonkeeper, so long as he was on the square and treated his patron’s right.
"He was so well thought of in his own ward that term after term he was elected a
member of the city council and served the community faithfully.
"Fred GRUNDEL possessed two excellent qualifications for getting on in this world-
-a clear head and a warm heart. During his terms in the city council he always was
noted for the soundness of his views and the practical character of his efforts to
serve the whole community.
"When his brother, August GRUNDEL, in the early days established himself on his
ranch at Gypsum, Fred also invested considerable money there in high-grade cattle,
and in his later years the two brothers and their families lived on the ranch. "When he made his home there, seventeen years ago, old Leadville friends and
acquaintances, stopping in Gypsum, often made it a point to visit Fred. 'If I'd know
a man is from Leadville and he visits the ranch, there is always a room for him and
a place at the table, and it will never cost him a cent.'
When Fred was running the Pioneer, many instances are related which
demonstrated the warmth and generosity of his heart. One winter Leadville suffered
a severe depression in the mining industry and there were many men out of
employment here. When down-and-out, the saloon is often the place where a man
seeks warmth and shelter, and Fred made his place a 'poor man's club' indeed. He
served what the old-timer knows as a free lunch, a far more generous free lunch,
however than the little pickings of rye bread and cheese or a hot-dog which
sometimes is referred to by that name. Fred had a cauldron of soup, great cuts of
roast meet, with generous servings of bread and potatoes. A huge schooner of beer
that cost a nickel was the 'Open Sesame' to the lunch counter, and all that winter
this banquet was liberally patronized, and undoubtedly hundreds of men out of a
job were enabled to keep body and soul together at Fred's open house, and at night,
the rows of chairs in the big pool room were lined with 'sleepers'.
"This was Fred's idea of charity, and he did it as a matter of course. 'The poor
devils have got to eat,' he said.
"After selling out his business here, GRUNDEL went to the ranch at Gypsum,
where later his faithful and devoted wife died, and following her, his brother,
August passed away leaving him alone-and lonely. He sold the old place and made a
trip to the homeland, Sweden, returning, however, to Colorado, and again resuming
his residence in Gypsum. He was elected mayor of that town, and just a few years
ago was chosen as justice of the peace."
Funeral services were held in Leadville Monday afternoon at 2 ;30 o'clock at the
Moynahan-O'Malia mortuary, the Leadville lodge of Elks, of which he was a life
member, being in charge of the services.
Hymns sung by Mrs. R. H. McKENZIE and Mrs. Frank E. BROWN, accompanied
by Mrs. Catherine DICE, were "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere," "One Fleeting
Hour," and "The Vacant Chair."
Pallbearers included Former Governor Jesse F. McDONALD, John W.
MCMAHON, George CASEY, Joseph W. CLARKE, Arthur JONES and Jack
DALTON. Interment was in the family plot in Evergreen cemetery in Leadville.
He is survived by two nephews and two nieces, all of whom live in Gypsum and all
of whom were present at the funeral. They are, H. F. LARSON and Will GRUNDEL
and Miss Hilma A. GRUNDEL, with whom Mr. GRUNDEL made his home during
the last years of his life, and Mrs. H. D. DAVENPORT, three sisters living in
Sweden, Mr. GRUNDEL's native land, also survive. Well liked and respected by everyone, Fred GRUNDEL was a citizen who will be
missed in the community where he made his home. Loyal to the core to his adopted
country, to his home community; a man who never forgot his friends, charitable to a
lavish extent, he has surely earned a reward in the life of the Great Beyond, where
his kindly soul has gone.
