Deceased September 18, 2020
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In Memory
Fred passed away on Sept. 18, 2020, at age 91. He was born and raised on North East Street in Amherst, attended East Street grammar school and Amherst High and, as a “townie,” joined our freshman class in 1947. A Theta Delt, Fred might be best remembered by most of us as a member of the DQ for our last two college years. Amherst opened Fred’s world to a productive career in writing, teaching, organizing and running secondary schools and holding college administrative positions.
After Amherst, Fred taught sixth grade at a private school in Portland, Ore., then enlisted in the Army, serving in Korea until the Armistice. Back in the Pioneer Valley, Fred taught history at Hopkins Academy in Hadley, then moved to Boston to serve as secretary to the first Massachusetts State Scholarship Committee. In 1959 Fred accepted the challenge of developing a new independent elementary school in Lexington, Ky., hiring teachers, developing curriculum and enticing parents to trust their children in this new enterprise. The Lexington School celebrated its 61st anniversary last September. Thereafter, Fred hopped to different academic challenges in Massachusetts, Kentucky and Michigan.
In 1979, he moved to Amherst to devote himself to writing a book about mountain life in the Kentucky hills, to editing a magazine on rural New England and to the preservation of a historic Amherst building.
Fred married Judy in 1962 and is survived by her and their three children and 12 grandchildren. To Fred, his greatest loves were his close family ties and the many dear friends he gathered wherever he journeyed throughout his long life. As our “in-town” class members, Fred and Judy were kind enough to open their home to returning classmates for many homecoming and reunion parties and dinners. Great fun! Fred was much loved and is greatly missed by all.
Everett E. Clark ’51 with Judy Luddy and John Kirkpatrick ’51