Cartoonist and Lake Minnetonka enthusiast Christopher Foote dies at 62

"I have to go put out a fire," Christopher Foote would tell his wife, Diane, when he got up in the middle of the night. Meaning a conflict of some sort had flared among the nearly 24,000 members of the Lake Minnetonka Fan Club, a Facebook page Foote founded and ran.

Foote described the page in a 2020 post as a place for "good-natured conversation, shared wisdom, intelligent discourse." Members asked for restaurant recommendations and posted photos of the lake at sunset. When hostilities broke out — over politics, docks or, in one case, walleye sandwiches — Foote would delete insults and boot out offenders, explaining his actions to the group with what member Molly Lang of Tonka Bay described as "dignity, grace, humor, diplomacy, and intelligence."

"Folks, this group is for celebrating everything we love about the Lake Minnetonka area," he posted in April 2020. "Let's soften the tone a little, share our thoughts, learn from each other, engage in some much needed humor, and we'll all get through this together."

Foote died in his sleep July 11 at his home in Deephaven. He was 62, healthy and fit, Diane said. Doctors blamed a pulmonary embolism, but she said, "I think he worked himself to death."

Foote was a commercial artist and cartoonist, a website designer and a marketing director for a Catholic nonprofit. The Facebook group was an offshoot of a website he ran.

Through it all, he was consistently cheerful and kind, Diane said. "I was married to the man for 20-some years and I've never seen him behave badly or questionably, ever."

He was born in Washington, D.C., and his family moved to Minnetonka in 1970. He studied art at the University of Minnesota and the Atelier Studio Program of Fine Art in Minneapolis.

His passions ranged from sewing to bodybuilding to staging elaborate pranks. He adopted Diane's four children and loved playing with his grandchildren. He enjoyed most kinds of music. When Elvis Presley died, he cut short a surfing trip in Florida, "drove to Graceland and stood outside and cried," Diane said.

Wade Snyder's four-decade friendship with Foote began in college. Foote encouraged Snyder to change his career goal from urban planning to art. He now owns a design firm in Hinesburg, Vt.

"He was the first one to really show confidence in me, saying this is something you can actually do, it's not just some little hobby thing," Snyder said.

Foote produced Doodles, a syndicated comics-page feature, eventually solo but initially with Star Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Sack, who called him "a wonderful cartoonist, partner and friend."

Foote created ads and posters for the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale, at first insisting on volunteering the work, said Lois Berens, a member of the chorale board. "Finally I said, 'Chris we just have to give you something; you're spending too much time.' " He agreed to a small stipend, she said.

When his death was announced on Facebook, members praised Foote for building a community of lake enthusiasts and running it in such an upbeat, steady way.

In a July 2020 post, Foote gently chided members of the group for posting complaints.

"A little more gratitude, please," he wrote. "Despite daily frustrations, life is good."

In addition to his wife, survivors include sister Didi Hastreiter of Deephaven; brothers Gregory of Excelsior and John of Waconia, stepdaughters Erika Ramsey of Wayzata, Lindsay Brotemarkle of Plymouth, stepsons Ned Bruce of Plymouth and David Bruce of Wayzata, and eight grandchildren.

Katy Read • 612-673-4583