Edmund Mitzel loved to clown around

Edmund (Mitzie the Clown) Mitzel took his art very seriously.

Mitzel, a Shriner who taught others the art of clowning and operated a clown paraphernalia store, died at his Hopkins home on Dec. 14.

Mitzel, 71, was a longtime Minneapolis and Mound resident.

Sanford Morris of Minneapolis, who is also a clown with the Shriners, said Mitzel was a top national performer, whose counsel and formal classes on makeup, costuming and production were in demand.

"A lot of people looked to him for information about the art of clowning," Morris said. "He was all about helping people and entertaining."

Mitzel, a former painting contractor in Mound and longtime Mason, joined the Zurah Shrine Temple in 1971, becoming a studious clown.

He once said that he decided to be a clown while in grade school. He grew up playing the accordion.

"You have to be [a] cutup," Mitzel said in a June 8, 1983, City Pages article. "A clown is not a human being. A clown is a mythical creature."

"All the world loves a clown, so a clown must love everyone," he said.

Over the years, he gathered friends from all over the nation, said Morris. Minnesotans saw him perform at the Zurah Shrine Circus in Minneapolis, hospitals, parades, and in recent years, for folks in retirement homes.

Morris said that Mitzel was one of the most creative people he ever knew. At the 2006 International Shrine Clown Association gathering in Calgary, Alberta, he won several ribbons.

In contrast to most in the competition, "Mitzie walks on stage as a wizard," said Morris. "He was absolutely marvelous."

By the early 1980s, he had opened a mail order and retail clown store, Mitzie's Clowns, Costumes and Gimmicks, first in Minneapolis, later moving it to Hopkins.

After closing the store in Hopkins in the mid-1990s, he continued to perform.

"It was his life. It was more than a job," said his daughter, Jaci Williams of Minneapolis. "He was all about fun."

His daughter said that he was an active member in various neighborhoods where he lived and was honored by the city of Minneapolis for his community service.

He was a 1954 graduate of the old Mound High School. In the 1950s, he served in the Navy Seabees. He attended what is now Brown College in the Twin Cities.

In addition to Jaci, he is survived by daughter Zoe Herzig of Columbia Heights; sons Edmund of Niceville, Fla., and Zel of Minneapolis; sister Marlys Nelson of Northfield; former wives Marlene Edin of Andover, and Peggy Mitzel of Columbus, Neb., and seven grandchildren.

A service will be held at 1 p.m. on Dec. 28 at Washburn McReavy's Robbinsdale Chapel, 4239 W. Broadway, with visitation at noon.