Charles Conrad

Writing your own obituary is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope to live up to it.

Born February 2, 1946, in Chicago, Illinois, (Go Cubs) to Arthur and Virginia Conrad, Prince Charming (as his family called him growing up) was spoiled by both his parents and grandparents, Judge Edmund and Kinga Jarecki.

Despite having difficulty with reading, phonics, and nuns, he managed to graduate from St. Viator’s School. He snuck into Loyola Academy where an unremarkable academic career of modest achievement culminated in a 1964 graduation. He continued to inflict himself on the Jesuits at Loyola University in Chicago, eventually graduating in a scant 5 years from Marquette University. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science but his true major was the Marquette Warriors under the great Al McGuire. He also learned many of life’s lessons at the Avalanche Bar (A working man’s bar at working man’s prices!).

His one stellar achievement at Marquette was meeting the future Mrs. Conrad and mother of his children, Joan Ann Linnemann. What she saw in him we may never know, but he clearly married above his pay grade. She gave him two wonderful children, Cara and Christopher. Chuck traveled the country peddling soft drinks and snack foods for Procter & Gamble, Frito-Lay, and Hiland Potato Chips. Shifting from calories to kilowatts, he retired from MidAmerican Energy.

Hard to believe, but in 1977 he became the Honorable Charles Conrad when he was elected to the first of two four year terms on the Village of Skokie Board of Trustees. He was proud of his village service especially during the period when neo-Nazi protestors wanted to march in Skokie, home to a large number of Holocaust survivors.

An avid golfer, he made two hole-in-ones in his life - not a very good average out of thousands of attempts.

A member of the Naval Reserve, he retired after 20 years as a Lt. Commander.

He lived a full life, long enough to see not only the Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox win world championships but also his beloved Cubs…fly the W!

Chuck will be forever grateful to his organ donor who gave him a lung and the most precious gift of all - six more years of time with friends and family. Please consider being an organ donor.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Joan; daughter Cara of Windsor Heights; son Christopher (Ashley Stolk) of Fairfax, California, and three grandchildren, Parker, Mitchell, and Camille Conrad. To my lifelong boyhood pals Dr. Robert Minkus (deceased), Fred Zola, Dr. Eli Michaels, Bruce Sherman, Dr. Dennis Kommer, and all my golfing buddies - I’ll be waiting for you at the starter shack.

P.S.  I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.

Donations may be made to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in West Des Moines where he and Joan were founding members, or the American Lung Association for IPF Research.

Chuck passed away on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at the Kavanagh House in Des Moines.

A visitation will be held at 9:30 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

Burial will be at a later date in St. Adalbert’s Catholic Cemetery in Niles, Illinois.