Frank Buddy C. Buetel

Buetel, Frank C. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and proud Army veteran passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at Boca Raton Regional Hospital. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Joan LaVonne (Johnson) Buetel, along with sons Brian (Sonia), Brent, and Barry (Shannon) Buetel. Additionally, he is also survived by eight grandchildren; Bridget, Frank, Christian, Cameron, Brittany, Lauren, Kate, Addison, and great-granddaughter Ella. Frank is also survived by his sister Anita Head, nephew Robert (Darlene) Head (son-Jody), and niece JoAnne Butala and family.

Frank (Buddy) was born on October 11, 1923 in Elcor, Minnesota and was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Anna Butala, his brother Kenny, and nephew Bobby (Head). He served as a Combat Infantryman in in the U.S. Army during World II achieving the rank of First Sergeant. For his bravery, he was awarded three Bronze Service Stars, two Purple Hearts, a Good Conduct Medal, American Theater Ribbon, along with numerous other campaigns.

After his honorable discharge in 1945, Frank went on to graduate with honors from the University of Minnesota. He would begin his journalism career as a writer at the Billings Gazette, but soon returned to Minnesota to enter into radio and television sports broadcasting. In 1949, he joined KSTP radio writing overnight newscasts for Don Hawkins. He eventually went on the air reading the newscasts in the early morning hours. In 1950, Frank became Sports Director at KAUS in Austin, MN, handling play-by-play for all boys’ sports. Two years later he was heard by Jack Thayer of WLOL and was hired. Less than a year passed, and in the fall of 1952, Frank went to work for WDGY announcing Gopher football. In the spring of 1953, Ed Smith, the GM at the soon-to-be WTCN-TV hired Frank to become Sports Director, where he remained for the next twenty years. During his career, he was the first play-by-play TV announcer for the Minnesota North Stars, did play-by-play for the Twins, called numerous U of M events, announced seven high-school hockey and fourteen basketball tournaments, and became the first ever voice of the Minnesota Fighting Saints and the Minnesota Kicks. His career-long contribution to sports announcing earned him recognition by Sports Illustrated as Sportscaster of the Year. In 1981, Frank became Director of Sales for the Miami Dolphins under the ownership of Joe Robbie. He was instrumental in the effort set forth by the Robbie family to construct the first privately-financed stadium in the U.S. He enjoyed sharing the experience of two Super Bowl appearances by the team with his entire family, along with team trips with Joan to both Japan and Germany.

A Memorial Gathering will be held from 6 to 7pm, with a Memorial Service to follow from 7 to 8pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at the Babione Funeral Home located at 1100 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33432. A Committal Service will be held at 1pm on Friday, August 24th at the South Florida National Cemetery located at 6501 S. State Road 7, Lake Worth, FL 33449.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Pavek Museum to continue to enrich and educate young people about Minnesota’s broadcasting history. The Pavek Museum of Broadcasting is located at 3517 Raleigh Ave., St. Louis Park, MN 55416.

The Buetel Family Wishes to share a video with you, please copy and paste the following weblink into your browser:

http://www.pavekmuseum.org/buetelvideo.html