Omro – John L. Freund, 94, of Omro, passed away peacefully with family by his side, on October 13, 2021 at Evergreen Retirement Community. He resided at Arborview Manor until recently. John was born on the family farm in Omro on January 19, 1927. He was the youngest child of John J. and Rose B. (Schrage) Freund.
John graduated from Omro High School in 1944 and Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1949. He married his high school sweetheart, Lucille J. Neary, on December 1, 1945, at St. Thomas Catholic Church in the town of Poygan. John and Lucille worked together, loaded up the family car and traveled together, and enjoyed activities and time spent with friends and their families. Lucille preceded him in death on September 17, 1992.
John was a life-long member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Omro, serving as a lector, usher, and parish council member.
John joined his eldest brother, Ernie, to begin his passionate lifetime career in real estate and auctioneering, which also later included insurance sales. Freund auctions were well known and were a weekend family event in the Omro/Oshkosh areas. The family always enjoyed closing out an auction with dinner, old fashioneds, and fun. John was a founding member of the Wisconsin Auctioneers Association. He served as its president in 1973 and 1974 and was named 1980 Outstanding Auctioneer of the Year.
John was an active community member. He served on the Omro Board of Education. He was a charter member of the Omro Kiwanis, actively serving that organization for over 50 years. John served as a Director of Winnebago County Bank for over 25 years. He was a member and past president of the local Board of Realtors and was Realtor of the Year in 1965. He was a member of the National Association of Farm and Land Brokers. John was also a member of the Omro Jaycees and Oshkosh Elks.
John enjoyed many years of bowling and golf leagues. He also enjoyed deer hunting and was a proud member of the Sawyer Swampers Hunt Club. John enjoyed many winters vacationing in Florida. He especially enjoyed fishing there with his Omro friends, fish fry’s, and socializing. It was never determined if it was John or his friend, Judd, who caught the biggest bass.
John is survived by his daughter, Janet Abalan, and son, Michael (Mona) Freund; grandchildren Kathryn Freund (Roger Baron) and Kristin (Andy) Duda, and their mother, Mary Morelli, Ryan (Kimberly) Abalan and John Abalan, Lauren Price and Andrew Freund; great-grandchildren Nicholas and Owen Duda, Lucy and Claire Abalan, and Lily and Trenton Price.
In addition to his wife and parents, John was preceded in death by his son Robert; siblings Ernest Freund, Naomi Ziebell, Adell Lesniak, Alyce Freund, Alvin Freund, and Frances Blount; and infant grandchild Meghan Abalan.
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History of Auctioneering
The most expensive pie sold at auction was bought for $15,000 CAD ($11,068 USD / £8,730), by the Hometown Family Pharmacy (Canada), in Ontario, Canada, on 31 August 2023.
The pie was sold at the Harrow Fair 2023 fundraiser event in Ontario, Canada and was purchased by the Hometown Family Pharmacy to honour their late co-owner Lonie Kady by raising money in support of a children’s centre.
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The most expensive car sold at auction is a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, which sold for $142,769,250 (£115.1 million; €135.1 million) including premium and was auctioned by Sotheby’s in Stuttgart, Germany, on 5 May 2022.
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, of which, only 2 models have been created by the German manufacturer, was sold at a ‘secret auction’ at the manufacturer’s brand museum in Suttgart. The auction was brokered by Sotheby’s and the winning bidder chose to stay anonymous.
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In August 2003, Joni Rimm (USA) paid $50,000 (£31,000) at a charity auction for the privilege of one kiss with Hollywood actress Sharon Stone. Sharon auctioned the kiss in aid of Project Angel Foods – a Los Angeles based charity providing free meals for people with HIV and AIDS.
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The most expensive sandals sold at auction is $218,00 (£184,765) and was achieved by Steve Jobs’s Birkenstock sandals, worn in the 1970s and 1980s, which was sold at Julien’s Auction, in Beverly Hills, California, USA, on 13 November 2022. The auction house predicted to sell the sandals for $60,000, but the final sale price with an accompanying NFT was $218,750.
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Source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/726530-most-expensive-sandals-sold-at-auction
The most expensive glove sold at auction was sold for $420,000 (£267,879) and was bought by Ponte 16 Resort (China) in New York, New York, USA, on 21 November 2009. The glove belonged to Michael Jackson and is now on display at the MJ Gallery at Ponte 16 in Macau, China. The auction was conducted by Julien’s Auctions (USA) at the Hard Rock Cafe at Times Square in Manhattan.
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The most expensive motorcycle ever sold at auction is the “Captain America” Harley-Davidson Panhead, ridden by Peter Fonda’s character Wyatt in Easy Rider (USA, 1969). It was sold as part of an auction of Hollywood entertainment memorabilia in Los Angeles, California, USA, on 18 October 2014, for US$1.35 million (approximately £836,000 at the time).
With its distinctive stars-and-stripes tear-drop fuel tank, chrome pipe work and chopper forks and handle bars, the bike was custom-built by bike builders Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy, based on design suggestions by Fonda himself.
Although one of several made for filming, the bike sold at auction is believed to be the only one surviving today.
According to the auction catalogue text, the bike was restored by actor Dan Haggerty (famous for acting in 1974’s The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams) before selling to collector Michael Eisenberg, who in turn sold it at the 2014 Los Angeles auction.
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The highest price paid for a thoroughbred race horse at public auction is $16 million (then £9.1 million) for a two-year-old, then unnamed colt, who had yet to even race. The Forestry colt was bought through an agent, Demi O’Byrne (Ireland), in the auction held at Calder Race Course, Florida, USA on 28 February 2006.
The bay colt, (with a white blaze) was bred in Florida, USA and sold at auction the year before (July 2005) for $425,000 (then £244,000).
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A brioche was sold at auction at the Reve d’un Soir event in aid of Kids, London, UK for £4000 ($7,838) to Lady Aliai Forte (UK) on 1 February 2007.
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The highest ever auction price for a violon cello is £;682,000 ($ 1,217,711) paid at Sothebys, London, UK on 22 June 1988 for a Stradivarius known as The Cholmondeley, which was made in Cremona, Italy c. 1698.
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The most expensive photograph sold at auction is Le Violon d’Ingres (1924) by Man Ray (USA), which sold for $12,412,500 (£10,156,156 / €11,939,832), on 14 May 2022.
The black and white image overlays a violin and a woman’s naked body. It was sold by Christie’s auction house and greatly surpassed its expected sale price of $5-7m.
The item had previously belonged to art collectors Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs.
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Source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-expensive-photograph-sold-at-auction