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Service Details

A memorial celebration was held on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Oviedo, FL. The service, featuring music composed by Victor Freudenburg, can be viewed in its entirety at https://livestream.com/sllcsoviedo/2016Memorials/videos/124375743

The Story

Oviedo, FL-- Victor Eugene Freudenburg, 88, died Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at the Lutheran Haven Retirement Center following a brief illness.

He leaves his wife of 64 years, Delores (Sunderman) Freudenburg; his daughters, Erica Grimstvedt and Charlotte Crouse, and sons Brook, Gene, and Kirk; fifteen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren; brothers Allen and Ernest; and many close friends.

The son of Victor and Erna (Firnhaber) Freudenburg, ‘Vic’ was born in Paducah, Kentucky on May 22, 1927, the day that Charles Lindbergh landed his Spirit of Saint Louis in Paris. Along with his parents and four younger brothers, Vic spent the majority of his youth in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as at the family homestead in Madison, Nebraska. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Concordia Teachers College, Seward, NE, in 1949, and married Delores the next year. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in Musicology, with minors in English and Organ, from the University of Minnesota in 1969. Vic devoted his life to his Christian calling. An accomplished church musician, choir director, and composer, Vic served many churches and schools throughout the Midwest and, in his later years, Central Florida. In the early sixties he directed the 75-voice Salem Lutheran Children’s Choir, founding an annual festival in St. Louis that drew thousands of attendees from throughout the Midwest. The choir recorded an album in 1965 (We Praise Thee), and many of its members stayed in touch with their former director and teacher, right up until the end of his life. Upon moving to Florida in 1978, Vic began performing an annual Fourth of July concert on the Ruffatti organ at The Chapel (formerly St.Paul’s Lutheran Church) at the Orlando Lutheran Towers. The concert raised funds for the Valparaiso University Guild, and was always followed by a viewing of fireworks over Lake Eola. For his service to Valparaiso, Vic received the University’s Honorary Alumnus Award in 1996. A lover of baroque music, especially the organ works of Buxtehude and Bach, and heavily influenced by the music of Carl Schalk and Paul Manz, Vic leaves behind a treasury of original compositions, including more than a dozen volumes of chorale preludes for organ, and numerous organ and instrumental scores written for festival celebrations of the church year. On May 12, 2013, a Tribute Concert was performed in his honor at Saint Andrew’s Chapel and Saint Andrew’s Conservatory of Music in Sanford, FL.

Vic was a great friend to many. He loved organizing events, such as family reunions and choir parties, where he would capture the festivities on film and work the grill, offering guests wines of his own making, in the ‘Low German’ style, from strawberries and rhubarb. On occasion he could have his arm-twisted to play horseshoes or ping pong, and in neither sport was he easily bested. In his later years Vic devoted himself to family genealogy, reconnecting with old friends, hosting visitors at the house, travels to Germany, and to Florida State football.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be directed to either of the following charities: 1) the “Victor Freudenburg Memorial Scholarship Fund” at the St. Andrew’s Conservatory of Music (send checks sent to 5525 Wayside Drive, Sanford, Florida 32771); or 2) The Guild Fund of Valparaiso University (https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1347/giving/index.aspx?sid=1347