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Many of them have grown used to getting Gerald Frosch’s advice on how to decorate their homes. Frosch suggested fabrics for the drapes or advised on the color of carpet in more than a few homes of some callers’ parents. Those who have not already heard seem surprised that Frosch, 83, retired three weeks ago.
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Gerald Frosch, right, talks with his granddaughter, Becca Zeches, left, and great-granddaughters, Jade, 8, center, and Kylee, 5, during his retirement party Monday at Engrav’s Decorating Center in Winona. Frosch retired Oct. 1, after 63 years serving the home furnishings needs of his customers, first at H. Choate & Co. and then at Engrav’s.
(Photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News)
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“He’s been such a fixture in Winona,” said Dianne Zeches, Frosch’s daughter and co-worker at Engrav’s for the past 12 years.
The man who has been the familiar face of home furnishings in Winona for 63 years, first at H. Choate & Co. and then at Engrav’s, retired Oct. 1. While Frosch’s retirement schedule still includes a wide range of church and civic groups, he will no longer work with customers to shape the look of local homes. It’s an opportunity he felt blessed to have for more than six decades, he said.
Looking back, the interactions with those customers, along with the employees he’s worked beside, proved to be the best part of Frosch’s job. He often made home visits, advising customers on a wide range of their decorating options, he said.
“It was just the satisfaction of walking out of some home and knowing that those people are happy,” he said.
Frosch’s career started simply. The 20-year-old, looking for a job, answered an ad for a window display position at H. Choate & Co. He worked his way up to home furnishings department manager, and in 1968, Frosch and two other employees bought the business.
“It was an opportunity at that time,” he said. “It was a great store. We sold everything from appliances to brassieres. … It was just on the wrong end of the life of the department store.”
In 1980, after H. Choate & Co. dissolved, Frosch and one of the employees he had trained, Tom Reeck, started working at Engrav’s. When Reeck and his wife bought the business in 1983, Reeck made sure his mentor had a place in the business, and the pair worked side by side for 37 years.
“Basically, if you asked about window treatment, it was him,” Reeck said. “Everyone in town knew him as the window treatment guy.”
The specific dates have faded over the decades, but Frosch’s eyes dance as he retells some of his favorite memories from his retail career — like the occasional parties held for H. Choate & Co. employees inside the store, when merchandise was pushed off to the side and a keg of beer brought in for all to enjoy. Or the man who “didn’t like TV for some reason” and showed up at the store armed with a baseball bat.
“He got five of those TVs before we stopped him,” Frosch said, grinning.
Frosch’s impact extends beyond the retail sector. He was a charter member when the new YMCA was built in 1952 and a board member for 12 years, serving as both president and vice president. He is also the only surviving charter member of the Sauer Memorial Home, a business idea that was conceived in 1955 during a YMCA Men’s Group meeting.
Frosch no longer spends his days measuring drapes or recommending carpet options, but his retirement has not slowed him down. He woke at 3 a.m. Wednesday, a schedule he adopted decades ago to allow time for morning prayer and meditation.
A short time later, he drove to St. Martin’s Lutheran Church to begin making breakfast, a solitary ritual he has performed every Wednesday for the past 18 years for the men’s group that meets for Bible study and breakfast. His culinary skills were put to the test just after 7 a.m. when more than 15 men showed up for the meal, a larger-than-normal crowd.
“It was like breaking the fish and feeding 5,000,” Frosch said with a smile.
As he adjusts to retirement, Frosch is struck by his many memories, including serving
three generations of several families in their decorating. A man takes a lot away from devoting more than 60 years to a single pursuit.
“You have to think back a little bit and remember the great things,” he said.
Dustin Kass may be reached at (507) 453-3513 or dkass@winonadailynews.com.
