BUTLER TWP — Their relationship was brief, but meaningful.

And extremely memorable.

Butler residents Ken and LuAnn Cherry — who have a winter home in a close-knit, gated community in Fort Myers, Fla. — befriended retired Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff there a few years ago.

“We bought a condo down there in 2009,” Ken Cherry said. “Mick and his wife Phyllis moved down there in 2014.

“They lived one building away from us. I've always been a big football fan and somebody mentioned that a former NFL player was moving in. The guy asked if I ever heard of Mick Tingelhoff.

“Of course I've heard of Mick Tingelhoff,” Cherry added.

Tingelhoff started at center for the Vikings for 17 years. He started 240 consecutive games for the team at that position despite being an undrafted free agent.

Tingelhoff was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. He died earlier this month at age 81.

But he left a lasting impression on the Cherrys and other neighbors in that gated community.

“We always saw him during gatherings at the pool,” LuAnn Cherry said. “One night, everyone else had gone home and Ken and myself, another couple and Mick and Phyllis just sat around for a while. We just talked. He and his wife are just down-to-earth people.

“He was such an unassuming guy. He was a legend, but never considered his football career to be any big deal. He'd tell stories if you asked him, but if you just met the man, you'd never know he played in the NFL.”

When word came down that Tingelhoff had gained entry into the Hall of Fame, Cherry and neighbor Paul Cole helped organize a party by the community pool to pay tribute to the football star.

About 30 neighbors gathered to honor him.

“Last thing in the world Mick expected,” Cherry said. “The look on his face was priceless. I had just met him two weeks ago.”

Neighbors wore T-shirts and caps of their favorite NFL teams, including the Steelers, Patriots and Packers.

Cherry said in a Florida newspaper article: “Tonight, we forget our teams. We're Mick fans tonight.”

With the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions taking place in Canton, the Cherrys planned on driving over for Tingelhoff's induction. They were going to purchase their own tickets.

The Tingelhoffs would have none of it.

“Phyllis sent us tickets that included access to every party and gathering going on there,” Cherry said. “We were at gatherings with Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, Bruce Smith ... it was crazy.

“Mick grew up on a farm. He considered himself a farm boy more than a football player. He desrcribed himself as 'an average Joe who just got lucky.'

“Meanwhile, Dick Butkus called him the toughest center he ever played against,” Cherry added.

Cherry's sons, Jason and Justin, were both place-kickers at Butler. Jason went on to win a national championship at the University of Massachusetts and enjoyed a long career in arena football.

Dementia was catching up to Tingelhoff during the four years the Cherrys knew him. The couple moved back to Minneapolis three years ago.

“We were so lucky to have met them,” LuAnn Cherry said of the Tingelhoffs. “They gave us a crystal football with 'HOF, Mick Tingelhoff' written on one side and the Vikings symbol on the other.

“It should have been a keepsake for them, but they really wanted us to have it.”

Ken Cherry said Tingelhoff told stories about how coach Bud Grant wouldn't let the players wear gloves on the field in bitterly-cold weather or have heaters on the sidelines.

“This guy was one of the best ever at his position,” Cherry said. “But he'd rather talk about you than talk about himself. That's how he was. That's who he was.”