[ringojackson]

Honestly, everything that you typed comes off as very awkward.

"Why did you decide to pledge this chapter?”, “What are some of the charity and community service activities you guys do?”, chapter ideals, even praising the mottos after doing some research, and other stuff to get to know them. "
Fraternity rush is not the same as sorority rush. You don't get some kind of prize for knowing about their motto or asking about their community service. The guys don't care about any of that. They just want to know if you're a cool, laidback guy and you'll fit in.
I think if they were asking you A LOT of interview-style questions such as "who is your greatest influence?" that shows they didn't feel comfortable around you, so they felt they had to revert back to textbook questions to fill up the time. Fraternity recruitment is about hanging out with the guys, and having a good time. It's like going to a party and making friends, not trying to impress with knowledge of their fraternity and interest in community service. You can rush again, but frankly I don't think you have a chance at this last fraternity you are referring to. Try to go to a couple new ones, and remember that you're trying to MAKE FRIENDS more than you're trying to impress as you would in an interview
Also, continuing with the party analogy, you never want to be the last one to leave a party. I'm sure you thought it was a good thing, and I'm sure the brothers SEEMED fine with it, but really that doesn't reflect positively on you.

At the risk of appearing crass, I don't think your excuse for not attending a friend's funeral makes any sense and you should avoid mentioning that during rush at all costs...