Son of Charles L. Finninger and Clara M. Brummel.
_____________
Charles "Charlie" Finninger, the longtime owner of Finninger's Catering, whose wife and a daughter were killed there in 2006 by a disgruntled ex-employee, died Saturday (Aug. 25, 2007) at his home in Spanish Lake of prostate cancer. He was 81.
On April 18, 2006, the former worker stormed in with a gun and killed Mr. Finninger's wife, Cleo Finninger, 79, and their daughter, Christine Politte, 44, and wounded the business manager.
Mr. Finninger, who used a motorized cart because of vascular disease, escaped unharmed when a worker hid him in a walk-in freezer. The attacker ended the spree by killing himself.
After the shooting, Mr. Finninger had two heart attacks, but he recovered.
Deciding to honor the memory of his wife and daughter by devoting himself to the company they built, he returned to work less than a week after the shooting.
Mr. Finninger worked five hours a day, and handled all the daily operations for what is one of the largest catering companies in the area. For three decades, it provided food for receptions, parties and events, and made thousands of meals daily for Meals on Wheels and Head Start programs.
As a young man, Mr. Finninger worked in his family's grocery store in the Walnut Park neighborhood. In the late 1960s, he and his wife opened the catering company in the Baden neighborhood. They also ran a reception center in Baden and the former Finninger's Flower Gardens Gold Room in north St. Louis County.
A team at home and at work, Mr. Finninger and his wife were to have celebrated their 55th anniversary 10 days after the shooting.
Finninger's Catering has been at the current location, at Bartmer Avenue at Skinker Boulevard, for almost five years. Mr. Finninger's niece, Susan Akscin, of University City, now runs the business.
A devout Catholic, Mr. Finninger was the first president of the Friends of St. Joseph, a group that restored the historic Shrine of St. Joseph on 11th Street.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary, 1645 Redman Avenue. A funeral Mass will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Shrine of St. Joseph, 1220 North 11th Street. Burial will be in Valhalla Cemetery.
Among the survivors are three granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
--St. Louis Post-Dispatch; August 26, 2007
____________________________________
NOTED St. Louis, MO AREA businessman, caterer, restauranteur, and community activist who was instrumental in saving the historic Shrine of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, founded in North St. Louis City at Eleventh and Biddle Streets in 1844, from closure and demolition.
The president of Finninger Catering Company (formerly of the Baden historic district of North St. Louis) which he founded with his wife CLEO in 1968, he also served as the first president of the "Friends of St. Joseph Shrine," the community-based volunteer group that raised millions of dollars to save this threatened historic North St. Louis City landmark in a long-term public relations and fund-raising campaign which became well-known as a template for successful American "grass roots" efforts to preserve historic churches and religious structures.
Mr. Finninger employed his considerable community contacts, knowledge, civic and business networks, and leadership skills to launch and sustain a major fund-raising effort of middle-class persons to save and preserve this historic St. Louis area church after the tragic murder of its pastor, Father Edward S. Filipiak,by three youths in 1979.
Fr. Filipiak's murder galvanized public support and interest to save the Shrine, which Finninger developed with local St. Louis photographer Robert Arteaga and others into an extensive volunteer and community organization that sustains, promotes and staffs the Shrine of St. Joseph to this day.
The Friends group persuaded the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis to refrain from closing the historic church, and developed an innovative lease/restoration program that is now nationally-known for its effectiveness and viability.
The Friends of St. Joseph Shrine is nationally-acclaimed among regional Catholic and volunteer organizations in the Midwest and elsewhere in the U.S.A. for its popular appeal, support and staffing for a successful urban historic preservation and renewal program.
The success of the Shrine's restoration led to the redevelopment of the Columbus Square historic district of Downtown St. Louis, with the Shrine of St. Joseph as the focal point for this innovative urban renewal project. The Shrine now hosts regular Catholic religious services as well as many weddings, funerals and special events in the metro St. Louis area.
Mr. Finninger died of infirmities of old age on August 25, 2007. After a wake at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary in North County, his concelebrated Funeral Mass took place at the Shrine of St. Joseph, followed by burial at Valhalla Cemetery next to his wife CLEO and near his daughter CHRISTINE, both of whom were tragically murdered a year prior by a deranged former employee at the Finninger Catering location.
Mr. Finninger was remembered as an extremely effective, strategic community organizer and advocate for lay initiatives to preserve historic churches and houses of worship in America. He was highly regarded by St. Louisans of all faiths as a successful community leader.
--bio courtesy of Max Kaiser, Jr.
_____________
Charles "Charlie" Finninger, the longtime owner of Finninger's Catering, whose wife and a daughter were killed there in 2006 by a disgruntled ex-employee, died Saturday (Aug. 25, 2007) at his home in Spanish Lake of prostate cancer. He was 81.
On April 18, 2006, the former worker stormed in with a gun and killed Mr. Finninger's wife, Cleo Finninger, 79, and their daughter, Christine Politte, 44, and wounded the business manager.
Mr. Finninger, who used a motorized cart because of vascular disease, escaped unharmed when a worker hid him in a walk-in freezer. The attacker ended the spree by killing himself.
After the shooting, Mr. Finninger had two heart attacks, but he recovered.
Deciding to honor the memory of his wife and daughter by devoting himself to the company they built, he returned to work less than a week after the shooting.
Mr. Finninger worked five hours a day, and handled all the daily operations for what is one of the largest catering companies in the area. For three decades, it provided food for receptions, parties and events, and made thousands of meals daily for Meals on Wheels and Head Start programs.
As a young man, Mr. Finninger worked in his family's grocery store in the Walnut Park neighborhood. In the late 1960s, he and his wife opened the catering company in the Baden neighborhood. They also ran a reception center in Baden and the former Finninger's Flower Gardens Gold Room in north St. Louis County.
A team at home and at work, Mr. Finninger and his wife were to have celebrated their 55th anniversary 10 days after the shooting.
Finninger's Catering has been at the current location, at Bartmer Avenue at Skinker Boulevard, for almost five years. Mr. Finninger's niece, Susan Akscin, of University City, now runs the business.
A devout Catholic, Mr. Finninger was the first president of the Friends of St. Joseph, a group that restored the historic Shrine of St. Joseph on 11th Street.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary, 1645 Redman Avenue. A funeral Mass will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Shrine of St. Joseph, 1220 North 11th Street. Burial will be in Valhalla Cemetery.
Among the survivors are three granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
--St. Louis Post-Dispatch; August 26, 2007
____________________________________
NOTED St. Louis, MO AREA businessman, caterer, restauranteur, and community activist who was instrumental in saving the historic Shrine of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, founded in North St. Louis City at Eleventh and Biddle Streets in 1844, from closure and demolition.
The president of Finninger Catering Company (formerly of the Baden historic district of North St. Louis) which he founded with his wife CLEO in 1968, he also served as the first president of the "Friends of St. Joseph Shrine," the community-based volunteer group that raised millions of dollars to save this threatened historic North St. Louis City landmark in a long-term public relations and fund-raising campaign which became well-known as a template for successful American "grass roots" efforts to preserve historic churches and religious structures.
Mr. Finninger employed his considerable community contacts, knowledge, civic and business networks, and leadership skills to launch and sustain a major fund-raising effort of middle-class persons to save and preserve this historic St. Louis area church after the tragic murder of its pastor, Father Edward S. Filipiak,by three youths in 1979.
Fr. Filipiak's murder galvanized public support and interest to save the Shrine, which Finninger developed with local St. Louis photographer Robert Arteaga and others into an extensive volunteer and community organization that sustains, promotes and staffs the Shrine of St. Joseph to this day.
The Friends group persuaded the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis to refrain from closing the historic church, and developed an innovative lease/restoration program that is now nationally-known for its effectiveness and viability.
The Friends of St. Joseph Shrine is nationally-acclaimed among regional Catholic and volunteer organizations in the Midwest and elsewhere in the U.S.A. for its popular appeal, support and staffing for a successful urban historic preservation and renewal program.
The success of the Shrine's restoration led to the redevelopment of the Columbus Square historic district of Downtown St. Louis, with the Shrine of St. Joseph as the focal point for this innovative urban renewal project. The Shrine now hosts regular Catholic religious services as well as many weddings, funerals and special events in the metro St. Louis area.
Mr. Finninger died of infirmities of old age on August 25, 2007. After a wake at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary in North County, his concelebrated Funeral Mass took place at the Shrine of St. Joseph, followed by burial at Valhalla Cemetery next to his wife CLEO and near his daughter CHRISTINE, both of whom were tragically murdered a year prior by a deranged former employee at the Finninger Catering location.
Mr. Finninger was remembered as an extremely effective, strategic community organizer and advocate for lay initiatives to preserve historic churches and houses of worship in America. He was highly regarded by St. Louisans of all faiths as a successful community leader.
--bio courtesy of Max Kaiser, Jr.
Son of Charles L. Finninger and Clara M. Brummel.
_____________
Charles "Charlie" Finninger, the longtime owner of Finninger's Catering, whose wife and a daughter were killed there in 2006 by a disgruntled ex-employee, died Saturday (Aug. 25, 2007) at his home in Spanish Lake of prostate cancer. He was 81.
On April 18, 2006, the former worker stormed in with a gun and killed Mr. Finninger's wife, Cleo Finninger, 79, and their daughter, Christine Politte, 44, and wounded the business manager.
Mr. Finninger, who used a motorized cart because of vascular disease, escaped unharmed when a worker hid him in a walk-in freezer. The attacker ended the spree by killing himself.
After the shooting, Mr. Finninger had two heart attacks, but he recovered.
Deciding to honor the memory of his wife and daughter by devoting himself to the company they built, he returned to work less than a week after the shooting.
Mr. Finninger worked five hours a day, and handled all the daily operations for what is one of the largest catering companies in the area. For three decades, it provided food for receptions, parties and events, and made thousands of meals daily for Meals on Wheels and Head Start programs.
As a young man, Mr. Finninger worked in his family's grocery store in the Walnut Park neighborhood. In the late 1960s, he and his wife opened the catering company in the Baden neighborhood. They also ran a reception center in Baden and the former Finninger's Flower Gardens Gold Room in north St. Louis County.
A team at home and at work, Mr. Finninger and his wife were to have celebrated their 55th anniversary 10 days after the shooting.
Finninger's Catering has been at the current location, at Bartmer Avenue at Skinker Boulevard, for almost five years. Mr. Finninger's niece, Susan Akscin, of University City, now runs the business.
A devout Catholic, Mr. Finninger was the first president of the Friends of St. Joseph, a group that restored the historic Shrine of St. Joseph on 11th Street.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary, 1645 Redman Avenue. A funeral Mass will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Shrine of St. Joseph, 1220 North 11th Street. Burial will be in Valhalla Cemetery.
Among the survivors are three granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
--St. Louis Post-Dispatch; August 26, 2007
____________________________________
NOTED St. Louis, MO AREA businessman, caterer, restauranteur, and community activist who was instrumental in saving the historic Shrine of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, founded in North St. Louis City at Eleventh and Biddle Streets in 1844, from closure and demolition.
The president of Finninger Catering Company (formerly of the Baden historic district of North St. Louis) which he founded with his wife CLEO in 1968, he also served as the first president of the "Friends of St. Joseph Shrine," the community-based volunteer group that raised millions of dollars to save this threatened historic North St. Louis City landmark in a long-term public relations and fund-raising campaign which became well-known as a template for successful American "grass roots" efforts to preserve historic churches and religious structures.
Mr. Finninger employed his considerable community contacts, knowledge, civic and business networks, and leadership skills to launch and sustain a major fund-raising effort of middle-class persons to save and preserve this historic St. Louis area church after the tragic murder of its pastor, Father Edward S. Filipiak,by three youths in 1979.
Fr. Filipiak's murder galvanized public support and interest to save the Shrine, which Finninger developed with local St. Louis photographer Robert Arteaga and others into an extensive volunteer and community organization that sustains, promotes and staffs the Shrine of St. Joseph to this day.
The Friends group persuaded the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis to refrain from closing the historic church, and developed an innovative lease/restoration program that is now nationally-known for its effectiveness and viability.
The Friends of St. Joseph Shrine is nationally-acclaimed among regional Catholic and volunteer organizations in the Midwest and elsewhere in the U.S.A. for its popular appeal, support and staffing for a successful urban historic preservation and renewal program.
The success of the Shrine's restoration led to the redevelopment of the Columbus Square historic district of Downtown St. Louis, with the Shrine of St. Joseph as the focal point for this innovative urban renewal project. The Shrine now hosts regular Catholic religious services as well as many weddings, funerals and special events in the metro St. Louis area.
Mr. Finninger died of infirmities of old age on August 25, 2007. After a wake at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary in North County, his concelebrated Funeral Mass took place at the Shrine of St. Joseph, followed by burial at Valhalla Cemetery next to his wife CLEO and near his daughter CHRISTINE, both of whom were tragically murdered a year prior by a deranged former employee at the Finninger Catering location.
Mr. Finninger was remembered as an extremely effective, strategic community organizer and advocate for lay initiatives to preserve historic churches and houses of worship in America. He was highly regarded by St. Louisans of all faiths as a successful community leader.
--bio courtesy of Max Kaiser, Jr.
_____________
Charles "Charlie" Finninger, the longtime owner of Finninger's Catering, whose wife and a daughter were killed there in 2006 by a disgruntled ex-employee, died Saturday (Aug. 25, 2007) at his home in Spanish Lake of prostate cancer. He was 81.
On April 18, 2006, the former worker stormed in with a gun and killed Mr. Finninger's wife, Cleo Finninger, 79, and their daughter, Christine Politte, 44, and wounded the business manager.
Mr. Finninger, who used a motorized cart because of vascular disease, escaped unharmed when a worker hid him in a walk-in freezer. The attacker ended the spree by killing himself.
After the shooting, Mr. Finninger had two heart attacks, but he recovered.
Deciding to honor the memory of his wife and daughter by devoting himself to the company they built, he returned to work less than a week after the shooting.
Mr. Finninger worked five hours a day, and handled all the daily operations for what is one of the largest catering companies in the area. For three decades, it provided food for receptions, parties and events, and made thousands of meals daily for Meals on Wheels and Head Start programs.
As a young man, Mr. Finninger worked in his family's grocery store in the Walnut Park neighborhood. In the late 1960s, he and his wife opened the catering company in the Baden neighborhood. They also ran a reception center in Baden and the former Finninger's Flower Gardens Gold Room in north St. Louis County.
A team at home and at work, Mr. Finninger and his wife were to have celebrated their 55th anniversary 10 days after the shooting.
Finninger's Catering has been at the current location, at Bartmer Avenue at Skinker Boulevard, for almost five years. Mr. Finninger's niece, Susan Akscin, of University City, now runs the business.
A devout Catholic, Mr. Finninger was the first president of the Friends of St. Joseph, a group that restored the historic Shrine of St. Joseph on 11th Street.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary, 1645 Redman Avenue. A funeral Mass will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Shrine of St. Joseph, 1220 North 11th Street. Burial will be in Valhalla Cemetery.
Among the survivors are three granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
--St. Louis Post-Dispatch; August 26, 2007
____________________________________
NOTED St. Louis, MO AREA businessman, caterer, restauranteur, and community activist who was instrumental in saving the historic Shrine of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, founded in North St. Louis City at Eleventh and Biddle Streets in 1844, from closure and demolition.
The president of Finninger Catering Company (formerly of the Baden historic district of North St. Louis) which he founded with his wife CLEO in 1968, he also served as the first president of the "Friends of St. Joseph Shrine," the community-based volunteer group that raised millions of dollars to save this threatened historic North St. Louis City landmark in a long-term public relations and fund-raising campaign which became well-known as a template for successful American "grass roots" efforts to preserve historic churches and religious structures.
Mr. Finninger employed his considerable community contacts, knowledge, civic and business networks, and leadership skills to launch and sustain a major fund-raising effort of middle-class persons to save and preserve this historic St. Louis area church after the tragic murder of its pastor, Father Edward S. Filipiak,by three youths in 1979.
Fr. Filipiak's murder galvanized public support and interest to save the Shrine, which Finninger developed with local St. Louis photographer Robert Arteaga and others into an extensive volunteer and community organization that sustains, promotes and staffs the Shrine of St. Joseph to this day.
The Friends group persuaded the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis to refrain from closing the historic church, and developed an innovative lease/restoration program that is now nationally-known for its effectiveness and viability.
The Friends of St. Joseph Shrine is nationally-acclaimed among regional Catholic and volunteer organizations in the Midwest and elsewhere in the U.S.A. for its popular appeal, support and staffing for a successful urban historic preservation and renewal program.
The success of the Shrine's restoration led to the redevelopment of the Columbus Square historic district of Downtown St. Louis, with the Shrine of St. Joseph as the focal point for this innovative urban renewal project. The Shrine now hosts regular Catholic religious services as well as many weddings, funerals and special events in the metro St. Louis area.
Mr. Finninger died of infirmities of old age on August 25, 2007. After a wake at Buchholz Spanish Lake Mortuary in North County, his concelebrated Funeral Mass took place at the Shrine of St. Joseph, followed by burial at Valhalla Cemetery next to his wife CLEO and near his daughter CHRISTINE, both of whom were tragically murdered a year prior by a deranged former employee at the Finninger Catering location.
Mr. Finninger was remembered as an extremely effective, strategic community organizer and advocate for lay initiatives to preserve historic churches and houses of worship in America. He was highly regarded by St. Louisans of all faiths as a successful community leader.
--bio courtesy of Max Kaiser, Jr.
Inscription
Bronze on Granite companion lawn-level grave marker for CHARLES H. Jr. and CLEO F. FINNINGER at VALHALLA CEMETERY, St. Charles Rock Rd.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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