Deceased February 7, 2022
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In Memory
Charlie Frey died at home near Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 7. He had multiple health problems the last few years of his life, including the recurrence of cancer.
Charlie was born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Nov. 15, 1929. He graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1947. After the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, Charlie and friend John Edmonds ’51 cleared trees with a two-man saw. John later married Anne Tower, and Charlie married Anne’s sister, Jane Tower (Smith ’56).
During high school junior year, Charlie and Don Cameron ’51 visited Williams College. Charlie found Williams dull compared to Amherst but had not applied to Amherst. While he was waiting in Amherst’s admission office for Don’s interview, the secretary encouraged Charlie to apply. After an on-the-spot interview with Dean of Admission Eugene Wilson, Charlie was admitted with Don. They roomed together in James with Herb Erf ’51. Charlie followed a pre-med track, desiring to do something useful and needed.
Charlie completed his Cornell M.D. in 1955. After a patient presented with hemorrhagic pancreatitis and died for lack of a known treatment, Charlie found his calling: “Studying and learning about pancreatitis was like what Robert Frost said about taking the path less traveled.” He finished general surgery training in 1963, including serving two years as USAF chief of surgery at Homestead AFB in Florida. After 12 years in Michigan’s Department of Surgery, Charlie moved to California, becoming vice chair of UC Davis Medical Center’s Department of Surgery. He was a pioneer in trauma, EMS and the study of pancreatic diseases, publishing more than 250 articles and presenting work at meetings worldwide. He was a founder of the Pancreatic Club and its chairman from 1975 to 1995, before retiring in March 1997.
Jane and Charlie have five children, nine grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
—Robert Frey ’86