2001 Assembly Joint Resolution 39
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: the life and community service of Leo Frigo.
Whereas, Leo Frigo was the 13th of 16 children in his family; graduated from Guardian Angels Boarding School in Oneida, Wisconsin, and St. Norbert High School in De Pere, Wisconsin; and studied dairy technology at Iowa State University, Ames; and
Whereas, he was a Trappist monk, a Korean War veteran, a husband to Fran Chapman Frigo since 1958, and a father of 5 children; and
Whereas, his community involvement included taking on leadership and volunteer roles with the Green Bay Downtown Rotary Club, the St. Vincent De Paul Green Bay District Council, the Green Bay Symphony, the Green Bay Sierra Club, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, the Abbot Pennings Council of the Knights of Columbus, the VFW, and the Prison Ministry of the Green Bay Correctional Institute; and
Whereas, his working career was spent in the Italian cheese industry where he worked as plant manager, director of operations, and corporate treasurer and retired as president of Frigo Cheese Corporation in 1983; and
Whereas, his desire upon retirement was to devote the remainder of his life to apostolic work; and
Whereas, Leo Frigo spent the first few months of his retirement assisting parolees by taking them to job interviews and assisting in their rehabilitation; and
Whereas, this apostolic work eventually led him to create Paul's Pantry, a private food pantry for the needy in Green Bay, which opened on February 14, 1984; and
Whereas, Leo Frigo's selfless devotion to feeding the hungry included going into stores' dumpsters until local grocers finally relented to start giving him food instead of throwing it away; and
Whereas, his tenacity coupled with his business acumen and love for helping the poor over the past 17 years has built one of the largest food-rescue programs for the needy in the nation, distributing an average 300,000 pounds of food per month and 5 million pounds of food last year alone; and
Whereas, Leo Frigo died Tuesday, February 13, from injuries suffered in a traffic accident while on the way to deliver food to a disabled friend; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature salute the life and community service of Leo Frigo and along with the Frigo family, friends, and community mourn his passing; and, be it further
Resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall transmit a copy of this joint resolution to Fran Frigo.
