A hail-fellow-well-met, Eugene "Geno” Freund carved out a niche as Traverse City's version of "Cheers” in his tavern Lil Bo's.
The Grand Rapids native purchased the business with a partner in 1969 and became sole proprietor in 1976, was known for his friendly, fun-loving demeanor as he tended bar and grill for decades at the West Front Street business. Geno died in December and his children threw a party to celebrate his life Sunday afternoon at the family business.
In lieu of a funeral or memorial service Geno did not want, the open house featured food, fun and friends — recreating a typical day in the life. Family pictures flashed on the main room's big screen and members of the VFW Post 2780's Honor Guard performed a ceremony honoring the Korean War Veteran. Big Band era music and Frank Sinatra played over the sound system all day, Geno's favorite music.
"He would have loved this,” said his daughter, Nancy Freund, who along with her brother Eddie took over, renovated and revitalized the business beginning in March of 2005. "He lived life, he always had fun and was happy.”
David Wineman of Grawn was a bartender for seven years at Lil Bo's and stopped by with his wife Sunday to pay his respects. His gig behind the bar was a second job for him, after duties at the Traverse City State Hospital, and he recalled the bar as being a working man's haven. Everybody knew everybody else and enjoyed having a few drinks together.
"We used to get all the businessmen in town, like the old manager of Penney's or Ace Hardware, they'd stop in for a nightcap after work,” he said. "[Geno] loved the bar, he liked to keep busy.”
Wineman said that Geno also kept the atmosphere family-friendly for his crew.
"Every year they'd always have a picnic for the workers at Howard's place on the bay,” he recalled of Geno's original partner. "He'd close up the first Sunday after Labor Day for that.”
Lil Bo's began life in 1932 as a hot dog stand called Little Bohemia, a gathering place for local Bohemians who populated the city's West Side. After Geno took the helm, he kept the name and expanded the menu to include his trademark burgers. During their renovation, Geno's children installed a complete kitchen and have expanded the menu to include a full Italian fare as well as an expanded line of burgers.
"Our main focus is we want people to come in and eat, our food is phenomenal,” said Nancy Freund, adding of the extensive renovation: "We basically built a new building without building a new building.”
Lil Bo's was also golf great Walter Hagen's hangout for many years after he retired to Long Lake Township in the early 1960s. Today, if the walls of Lil Bo's could talk, they would be laughing non-stop as the bar most nights vibrated with humor.
"We had so many laughs in here,” said Scott Johnson, who has been a visitor over four decades since he was 18. "So many fun times. He'd always make copies of jokes and we laughed forever.”
Johnson recalled that Geno, who knew most people who came in, kept a big jar of unpaid tabs up on a counter, a testimony to Lil Bo's relaxed atmosphere. One day the jar disappeared and Geno's informal accounting method came to a screeching halt.
"Somebody stole it,” laughed Johnson.
Eddie Freund worked for his father about five years after high school, holding down the night shift and learning about human nature first hand. Pleased at the turnout honoring his father Sunday, Freund reflected on Geno's life and contributions to the community.
"He had a good sense of humor and he loved people,” he said. "If anybody has a calling, this place was his.”