Reynold Joseph Frutkin, 107, of Indianapolis, formerly of Florida and Cleveland, passed away peacefully on October 25. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 22, 1912, the first of two children of father, Simon Frutkin, an immigrant and ladies’ tailor from Belarus (White Russia) and mother, Elizabeth (nee Wirth) of Cleveland. Following the break-up of his parents’ marriage when Rennie and his sister, Fern, were young, and the death of their mother a few years later, he and his sister were raised by their grandparents on their mother’s side.
Reynold Joseph (known by all as “Rennie”) shared a wonderful life for 74 years with his wife, Anabel (nee Baigrie) who passed away in December 2011 at age 92, one month before their 75th wedding anniversary. They were great partners on the dance floor and in life.
For many years, Rennie worked in Cleveland with the commercial division of Magic Chef, the stove company, making kitchen equipment for hospitals, hotels, and restaurants. His first job there, near the end of the Depression, was in an enamel spray booth where the temperatures often exceeded 140 degrees. When WWII began, the company contracted with Republic Aviation to build the complex, circular engine cowling for venting the 2,000 h.p. radial engine of the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane. (This was one of the fastest aircraft of the war, and also one of the most produced. Famous test pilot Chuck Yaeger flew the P-47 in the European theatre.) In the course of converting from stove to aircraft production, Rennie’s employers discovered his managerial talents, and he eventually worked his way up to the executive level. He managed this despite not being able, for financial reasons, to finish his studies at St.Ignatius Jesuit high school where he had begun (and where two of his sons went); he later went to night classes during the war years and earned his diploma. After his career with Magic Chef, he served as Vice-President with Premier Industries and later Executive Vice President with Curtis Noll. Premier was a leading fastener company and Curtis Noll was a small conglomerate focused on the auto supply business. Both were in Cleveland. Shortly before retiring he also was the president of Midland Screw, a small manufacturer in Chicago. While at Curtis Noll, he supervised the building of multiple distribution centers across the country.
Rennie married Anabel, a native of Toronto, in 1937. This was still during the Great Depression. The marriage was launched on the winnings of a racehorse named Leonard Wilson. The horse won six straight races and drew national focus. Rennie’s initial $6.00 bet grew exponentially through the sixth race when Leonard Wilson ran at 16-1 odds. Rennie kept half the winnings, enough to buy a house in that era, and bet the other half on the seventh race.
Alas, not so lucky in the seventh race.
Rennie’s family background had many layers. He was the older child of his father Simon’s second marriage. His younger sister, Fern, died in 2008 after a career as a nurse and later a hospital administrator with an order of nuns, the Sisters of the Humility of Mary (the famous “Blue Nuns” of northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania). After Rennie and Fern’s mother died in 1921, when he was nine, the grandfather who raised them was Rudolph Wirth, a German immigrant skilled in the design and making of stained glass windows. His work can still be seen in a few churches and private homes in the Cleveland area. Rudolph died in 1926, around the time Rennie was unable to pay his tuition at St. Ignatius. An uncle, Conrad (Coonie) Wirth, was also part of the household and helped raise them; Coonie was a dog breeder and owned several champion terriers. Rennie’s half-brother from his father’s first marriage was Leonard, a Harvard Law School graduate and Wall Street lawyer, who died in 1985. His half-brother from his father’s third marriage is Arnold, who graduated from Harvard College, where one of his roommates was Leonard Bernstein. After Harvard, he served during World War II in the U.S. Navy, commanding an LST in the Pacific. Afterwards, he spent most of his career in Washington, D.C. During the early days of space flight, Arnold became the Director of International Space Cooperation for NASA. Arnold and Rennie did not know of one another’s existence for quite some time. Today Arnold remembers Rennie with fondness: “We discovered each other in the mid-30s and immediately established a warm, deep understanding that went well beyond the occasional visits and other communications we had. He was a worthy and much-loved patriarch for a complex family.”
Rennie also survived three half-sisters from his father’s third marriage: Mimi Frutkin Banks of Rancho Mirage, California (d.1992); Jessica (nee Doris) Frutkin Fleckman of Albuquerque, New Mexico (d. 2009); and Charlotte Frutkin Ross of Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 2015).
Rennie was always a great sports fan. Blessed with exceptional hand-eye coordination, he was a whiz at handball as a kid and also loved playing baseball and basketball. He was a great follower of the Cleveland Browns and the Indians, switching his allegiance to the Colts when he and Anabel moved to Indy from Florida.
Rennie’s devotion to his family could be seen when he took time with his grandchildren, especially sharing with them his skill at cards and gardening. In addition, he was a wonderful story-teller, both with family and friends. His biggest disappointment was not having the chance to go to college. And in his later years, he sometimes expressed his unfulfilled wish to be a doctor. Perhaps with that in mind, he is donating his body to science.
Rennie is survived by his children, Reynold Francis (Ann) and Larry (Dolores), both of Indianapolis; Mark (Faith) of Ottawa, Canada; Marilyn (James) Grace of Toronto, Canada; and half-brother, Arnold (Nan) of Nellysford, Virginia. Rennie and Anabel had 11 grandchildren (5 in Canada, 6 in the U.S.) and 13 great-grandchildren, the youngest of whom, Mabel Rosemarie, was born in Ottawa in June, 2018.
Services will be held at Holy Spirit at Geist Catholic Church on October 31, with a visitation at 9:30 AM in the chapel followed by a funeral Mass. In lieu of flowers, please make gifts in his name to either of the following: Tamarindo Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 90404, Indianapolis, IN 46290 or Sisters of the Humility of Mary, Villa Maria, PA 16155.
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