Frederic Bursch

Frederic Warren Bursch, son of Pete and Audrey Bursch, was born October 18, 1951, in Sioux Falls SD. Fred died peacefully on December 23rd, in his home, surrounded by family, at age 70, after a courageous battle with cancer.  Fred was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandpa, brother, uncle, friend, and colleague.

A Celebration of Fred's Life will be held on Saturday, January 15, 2022, at 1 PM at First Lutheran Church in Alexandria.  Interment will be in Kinkead Cemetery in the summer.

A visitation will take place on Friday, January 14, 2022, from 4-7 PM at First Lutheran Church in Alexandria and also one hour prior to the service on Saturday.

Fred's family requests everyone to wear a mask during the visitation on Friday and also for the Celebration of Fred's Life on Saturday.

Alexandria has been Fred’s home since his family move from Sioux Falls at age 5. His parents bought the Bus Depot Café and, while operating the restaurant, the business evolved into a full-service travel agency.

Fred left home and went on to earn his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota in 1973. The year later, he wed his first wife, Claudia (Hulick). They were later blessed with two beautiful daughters, Joanna and Lara.

Fred continued his education and received his Juris Doctor in 1976. While working for a Minneapolis district court judge, a visit home would change the course of his life. Pete asked his son if he could help him with the travel agency.  It was an easy decision because it meant that he would be working with the man he loved, respected, and emulated. Fred took over the agency's operations in 1977, eventually purchasing Bursch Travel in 1986.

Fred was passionate about music, in High School he played Bass in Orchestra, and throughout his life, he loved all music, from Classical, Blue Grass, Folk, Rhythm Blues, Jazz, light rock; and he was instrumental in helping organize the Alexandria Festival of the Lakes chamber music series.

In 2008, Fred married his soulmate, Terri Mogenson, and welcomed Terri’s children, Rachel and Lucas, as his family.

Fred was an extremely humble and generous person, he had a heart of gold and would give everything he had to help his family, his friends, his community, the travel industry, and worldly organizations.  He was so proud of the Alexandria community and did everything he could to help make the Alexandria Community a place that everyone wanted to live in.  Fred was charitable beyond measure with his many philanthropic adventures: Alexandria Rotary Club for more than 40 years, including past president; Alexandria Area Community Foundation Board for 10 years; Alexandria Area Chamber of Commerce board member, 1998 -2004; St. Cloud State University Foundation board member; First Lutheran Church – Vision Team chair and Capital Campaign chair;  Habitat for Humanity Douglas County board member;  President of Alexandria Technical College Foundation; Theatre L‘Homme Dieu Board member for 12 years – including past president;  Legacy  of the Lakes Museum founder, board member for more than 10 years, president emeritus; pilots his own plane and volunteered with Angel Flight to fly people for medical treatments; American Society of Travel Agents – Upper Midwest chapter president, national board member, and national treasurer; 2019 recipient of the Ruth McDonald Award in Philanthropy.

Fred was a kind and gracious man whose passions were vast, from being a grandpa and spending time with family and friends, to leading and building Bursch Travel and loving his Bursch Travel family, to helping build and supporting the Alexandria community, he loved his First Lutheran Church family, he loved Facebook and communicating with his infinite FB friends, he loved working and meeting with his friends and colleagues in the travel industry, Fred loved traveling the world, skiing with family and the Ski Dogs, playing golf, flying his plane, cruising in his wood boats around the chain of lakes and taking road trips with Terri. Fred loved life and was grateful to God for all his blessings.

Fred is survived by his wife, Terri;  daughters, Joanna (Jon) Hawthorne of London UK and Lara (Bob) Deppisch of Vienna VA, step-children, Rachel (Erik) Esbjornsson of Plymouth MN and Lucas (Shannon) Mogenson of Alexandria MN; grandchildren, George and Henry Deppisch, Hugo and Dexter Hawthorne, Elly, Emmett, and Evan Esbjornsson; sisters, Barbi Eysselinck of Beacon NY and Mary Kathryn Bursch(Phil Celli) of St Petersburg FL; brother, Charlie (Heide) Bursch of Iowa City, IA; brother in law, Mike (Maralee) Drellack of Alexandria; sisters in law, Joyce (Jeff) Aubol of Crookston MN, Debbie (Scott) Janssen of Anchorage AK and Cate (Blaine) Johnson of Mankato MN; mother in law, Dorothy Drellack of Crookston MN;  and many nieces and nephews. Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Pete and Audrey Bursch, brother-in-law, Walter Eysselinck and father-in-law, Ray Drellack.

A special thank you to Dr. Raflores and the entire staff at the Alomere Oncology department for the kind and compassionate care they provided Fred.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the following places that were near and dear to Fred:

Legacy of The Lakes Museum https://legacyofthelakes.org/donate/

Theatre L'Homme Dieu https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/store/34709/alldonations

and Alomere Health Oncology department: https://alomerehealth.com/foundation/