RIP Chuck Kondor

[chrisw]

Chuck Kondor passed away yesterday. He had been dealing with cancer and heart disease for several years.

I know many of you on this forum have had interactions With Chuck over the years. I would like to share some of my interactions with you.

I met Chuck by chance, in of all places Patagonia Arizona in July of 2014. This was my first collecting trip to Arizona with my 17 year old son.
We were staying at the Stage Stop Inn in downtown Patagonia. There were a couple of other collectors staying at this hotel as you could tell by the gear in the back of their trucks. One afternoon as I was putting things in the truck I noticed a business card under my windshield wiper. The card said "The Bug Guy" Chuck Kondor. He wrote on the card "How's the collecting going? I would like to visit. I am staying in room 201. I had heard of this Chuck Kondor guy, but never had dealings with him or met him. So I went up and knocked on the door. This large scruffy man opened the door and let me in. It was Chuck. He introduced me to his collecting partner, Greg Lewellen, and we visited for maybe 45 minutes or so. I found out that Chuck lived about an hour away from my house. He told me to call him when I got back to Wisconsin to set up a time that my son and I could come over and see his stuff.

About 2 weeks after we got back my son and I went for a visit. He welcomed us into his home and down to his "bug room" where he did his business and displayed many of the butterflies, moths & beetles he had for sale. My son & I were amazed at the amazing specimens he showed us. We also found his collecting stories fascinating. As we visited he he started to give us specimens to take home. He would ask "Do you have one of these?, and if course the answer was no. At the time I had a very meager collection of exotic specimens. By the time our visit was over Chuck had given us over 100 specimens to take home. When we got into the truck to go home I looked at my son and said "Did that just happen?"

That was the start of a wonderful friendship with Chuck. I would stop over to visit with him every couple of months just to listen to his stories about collecting all over the world. I would always come home with some new specimens for my collection. When Chuck found out that I grow flowers for a living and did landscaping through my business we began trading with each other. I would plant flowers in his yard and he would send me home with new specimens.

I now have an incredible collection and many fond memories just by that chance meeting in Patagonia. I will miss those visits.

[Panacanthus]

This is sad news, but thank you for sharing your stories. Although I never met Chuck in person, I had some wonderful conversations on the phone with him and some insect “dealings” as well. He also purchased a freeze dryer(not a cheap piece of equipment) from me which I was no longer using, just to give it to the Lewellens - another example of his generosity. The experiences you describe are exactly what I would expect from Chuck!

[adamcotton]

Sad news reverberates around the world.

RIP

Adam.

[Chuck]

When I was a kid- younger than 10- I wrote him for a price list. It was all hand written, and not knowing any better, I closed with "Love, Chuck." I quickly realized that was inappropriate, but wasn't going to rewrite the whole letter, so sent it. I never got a price list. I wonder why.

Sad to hear of this passionate man's passing, and thanks Chris for sharing that anecdote.

[bobw]

A controversial character... I know a few people who said they got ripped off by him, but I dealt with him a few times and never had a problem. I met him 3 times when he came over to Europe, he was a larger than life character and good company, he certainly knew a lot about the insect trade.

He was also one of the growing number of people who did time for illegal insect trading. He had some hair-raising stories about his time in prison!

[Annarobertson1947]

Only recently i had conversations with Chuch , a delightful man
RIP Sir.

[billgarthe]

I, too, visited Chuck many times and he was always a gracious host, fun to be with, and generous with both specimens and the effort to acquire desired bugs wanted by me. Every time I walk by my 2’ tall amethyst crystal geode, fish fossil, or view my insects from him, I’ll remember the 30+ years he and I did bugs. I consider myself fortunate to have known him and as an insect friend who will be missed.

[Trehopr1]

Very nicely put Billg.

Chuck was a long time friend of mine for 27 years.

I have much to admire, appreciate, and forever treasure (in my lifetime) through his efforts. He was a purveyor of Natural History artifacts for at least 43 years !

In my prepared eulogy at his funeral I remarked at its end that: "I will miss my friend but, his kindness, generosity, and genuine Goodwill towards others will always follow me ---- wherever I go".