Family Spotlight: The Rundlet Family
This month, Stroll Inside the Gates spotlights the Rundlet family. Chuck Rundlet originally hails from Berkeley Heights, NJ, while Nancy Rundlet was born in Seattle and grew up on Staten Island. Chuck and Nancy first met while they were both enrolled at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. “We met at a fraternity party when I was in my sophomore year and Chuck was a junior,” recounts Nancy. “I approached Chuck first at the party, and later he walked me home. That was the beginning! We were very young, just 20 and 21, and we continued dating for 6 years before getting married.”
Nancy and Chuck both graduated from Gettysburg College with STEM majors. Chuck obtained his degree in Biology, while Nancy graduated with degrees in Physics and Math. Nancy went on to get a Master’s degree in Management Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.
After college, Nancy initially worked as Design Engineer for two years before joining Hewlett Packard in their Technical/Engineering computer products group. She sold various types of computers for 10 years and then held management positions for 4 years. Although it was a tremendous company, a friend convinced her to leave and go to a start-up software company in the area of Systems and Software Engineering as Director of Sales and Marketing. After 7 years, that company (Quality Systems & Software) was acquired by a Swedish based company, Telelogic, where she held several management positions and was VP of one of the product areas. IBM acquired Telelogic in 2008 where Nancy remained for 10 years before she happily retired to enjoy her family, friends, and a very active life.
In college, Chuck was in the Air Force ROTC program. He served for months after graduation, but when the war was over, he was honorably discharged. He had a few different positions in sales but spent most of his career in residential real estate appraisals. He established his own small real estate appraisal company for many years, and during that time, he and Nancy invested in real estate while Chuck managed the properties. In addition to his work in real estate, Chuck also coached soccer and baseball, and he even founded a girls’ softball league where he coached for many years. He was the first person to be inducted into the Morris Plains, NJ “Hall of Fame” for coaching.
Chuck and Nancy have two adult children, Jeff Rundlet and Lisa Rundlet Gordon. Jeff grew up in Morris Plains, NJ and attended the University of Richmond for a degree in Finance and Marketing. After working in traditional banks in New York City for many years and becoming a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), he moved to Cryptio, a company focused on back-office infrastructure for cryptocurrency. Jeff’s wife Laura is the Product Development Manager at Summit Golf Brands, best known for their Zero Restriction and Fairway & Greene clothing line. Jeff and Laura have 3 beautiful children of their own: Parker (10), Rex (8), and Lily (4), who live in Garden City, NY.
Chuck and Nancy’s daughter Lisa grew up in Morris Plains and graduated from Bucknell University with an Accounting Degree. She went on to join KPMG, a global network of professional services firms that provides audit, tax, and advisory services. She spent much of her career in executive recruiting for Heidrick & Struggles, and she was recently recruited to work for Bespoke Partners, a boutique executive recruiting firm in the Software/SAAS industry. There, she works as Partner in the finance practice. Lisa’s husband, Jim Gordon, is a Managing Director at Macquarie Bank, which is headquartered in Australia. Lisa and Jim have two boys, Ben (5) and Noah (3), who live in Montclair, NJ.
What drew the Rundlets to Georgia’s Lake Country first were the amazing golfing opportunities. “Chuck and I LOVE to play golf,” adds Nancy. “In 2006, we came to Reynolds to celebrate our anniversary. We played golf twice, visited all the club houses, ate at Silver Moon and Great Waters, and finally we sat at the Ritz bar sipping Peach Martinis. We spontaneously purchased our first home at Reynolds that weekend, and it was the best decision! We thought we wanted to visit many other golf communities before we purchased a second home, but we could not imagine any place could be better than here. The cottage on #18 of the Preserve Course was perfect for us to visit periodically while we were both working full-time. Our primary residence remained in Morris Plains. Through the years, we were spending more and more time here, so in 2014, we purchased our home on #9 of the Preserve. This is the perfect home for us, because it accommodates our growing family of 11 perfectly. Soon after, we became Georgia residents! We spend about 50% of our time in New Jersey and 50% in Georgia, mainly because of our frequent visits to see our kids and grandkids in NY and NJ.” Chuck and Nancy have now been members of Reynolds for almost 19 years.
“We LOVE living at Reynolds!” continues Nancy. “We are always meeting new friends that we feel like we have known for years. We call them our PLUs – ‘People Like Us’. For the last several years, we both have golfed 100 – 150 times per year. We are asked all the time which course is our favorite, and we can only say that we love all of them! We also love the restaurants inside the gates, especially Richland Pointe, Creek Club, Eighty 8, and the Tavern. We also enjoy many of the restaurants and shops outside the gates. Everything is so convenient here!”
To stay active in the community, Nancy enjoys volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in Putnam County, helping organize the donations that come in and stage the Re-Store. Chuck is involved with the Elks, where he has helped with many volunteer activities, such as serving veterans during special events.
Chuck and Nancy’s favorite hobby is spending time with their kids and 5 grandkids, often going away on special family adventures. Chuck and Nancy take several vacations each year, often finding opportunities to golf in new and exotic places. This year, they explored Mexico, Central America, and Cartagena, Columbia in January, and in May they went on an e-Bike vacation in Croatia. In June, we played golf in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. On the horizon, the couple will visit Wisconsin (with their 10 year old grandson) followed by the Reynolds-planned golf trip to Bandon Dunes in Oregon. “Next January, we set off for New Zealand and Australia! Planning these adventures and creating many memories is one of our favorite things to do!” In addition to travel and golf, Chuck loves tinkering with different wood projects and keeping the house maintained. As the main chef in the house, he also creates many delicious recipes with tips from the Food Channel. Nancy, on the other hand, loves needlepointing belts and knitting (anything from Christmas stockings to golf head covers). She always has her sewing machine ready for her next big project of reupholstering cushions and other furniture.
“We are truly happy to live in such a special community. Just when we think we have all the friends we need, we meet new people that are just as terrific!” – Chuck and Nancy Rundlet
