Charles Quandt

Charles Quandt, age 92, of Kokomo, Indiana, passed away peacefully on Friday, January 6th, 2023. He was born on March 16, 1930, in Woodland, Wisconsin, to Theodore and Alma (Steinberg) Quandt. Growing up on a farm with eleven siblings helped him develop a strong work ethic and fostered his love of outdoors and baseball. He attended a one room schoolhouse for elementary school where he was the only student in his grade. 

Charles was a graduate of Hartford High School. He worked on the family farm until he enlisted in the United States Air Force where he served from 1951-1955 during the Korean War. He was stationed in England during much of his service and played baseball on the military team and traveled during his free time there. After his discharge, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Charles met his future wife Ellen at a party in Milwaukee with mutual friends. After Charles relocated to Kokomo, Indiana, for work he continued to visit Ellen as often as he could and finally won her over. On March 7, 1975, Charles and Ellen got married in Milwaukee in a private ceremony in a beautiful cathedral (they didn’t invite any family or guests, as they always did everything their own way). They settled into their lifelong home on the Green Acres Golf Course and were very active in the community there.
 

Charles worked as an engineer for General Motors and Delco Electronics in Kokomo until his retirement in 1993. His focus was largely on materials engineering and he was particularly proud of a project that developed materials for the NASA space program. Additionally, he ran a successful small business building radio antennas with a couple close friends for over 30 years.

Charles traveled extensively. In his younger years he visited Europe several times with friends and took many hunting, fishing, and golf trips. He enjoyed traveling to Wisconsin and Oregon visiting his nieces and nephews. With his wife and children he traveled to Ireland, Canada, and Mexico and saw most of the United States. As a retiree he took many cruises in Europe, South America, Alaska, and Hawaii with his wife and friends. His passion for exploring the world will live on with his children and grandchildren. 

Charles loved teaching his children to play sports and share his love of the outdoors. He spent hours catching pitches, playing wiffle ball, golfing, pulling water skiers behind a boat, and snow skiing in Michigan, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Colorado. He taught the importance of family making the family dinner a priority every night and filled his evening with family games, golf, and watching his kids’ activities. 

Despite not taking up golfing until his forties, Charles quickly became an avid golfer and introduced his wife and children to the game. In his retirement, he and some friends volunteered with the Indiana Golf Association as part of a crew that would “rate” golf courses so that people of differing skill could compete fairly by using a handicapping system. They visited courses all over the state and got to play most of them.

Charles was surrounded by wonderful neighbors and friends. He and Ellen enjoyed helping their community by managing the neighborhood pool (even engineering around some maintenance issues) and later delivering food to homebound individuals for the Meals on Wheels program in Kokomo. He loved spending the mornings on the golf course or even just having coffee with the guys at the clubhouse; evenings were spent on the deck with a beer. They would never turn down a lunch invitation with friends. Charles took pride in grilling a perfect medium-rare steak, keeping a meticulous lawn and a spotless garage, and tinkering with anything that needed fixing. 

Charles and Ellen enjoyed spending time with family, especially their five granddaughters. They had a full schedule of birthday parties, soccer games, school performances, and many other activities and managed to juggle it all (across two states) with seeming ease. Charles never missed an opportunity to playfully tease his granddaughters; he never missed an opportunity to enjoy ice cream with them either!

In 2020, Charles and Ellen moved to Michigan to be closer to family and caregiving. They enjoyed spending extra time with family and being involved in the daily lives of their grandchildren. Friends and former neighbors showered them with cards, well wishes, and phone calls which helped a great deal, but they still did miss their Green Acres home and community. The move to Michigan did afford Charles and Ellen the chance to spend more peaceful time at the lake with family.

Charles is survived by his son Brian (Tracy) Quandt of Westfield, Indiana, and daughter Andrea (Matthew) Aagesen of Ann Arbor, Michigan; sisters Marion Bloch of Portland, Oregon, and Loris (Tom) Gabel of Sussex, Wisconsin. He is also survived by five granddaughters: Avery and Emerson Quandt; Payton, Ella, and Charlotte Aagesen. Charles also is survived by numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Vernon, Marvin, Theodore, Harlan, Ronald, and an infant; and sisters Mildred, Elvira and Beatrice.

Friends are invited to visit with the family from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Saturday April 22, 2023, at Stout & Son Funeral Home, 200 East Main Street, Russiaville, IN 46979. A joint memorial service for Charles and his wife Ellen will begin at 1:30 on Saturday April 22, 2023, at the funeral home. Military honors will be provided by the United States Air Force and the Kokomo VFW Military Rites Team to highlight Charle’s military service. Until then, grab a bowl of butter pecan ice cream to celebrate Charles! In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to Semper Fi & America's Fund (https://thefund.org/donate/) in his name. Messages of condolence may be left online at www.stoutandson.com.

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