Obituary for Frederic B. Freyer
Frederic Burton Freyer, 90, formerly of Crestwood, N.Y., died Thursday night, Nov. 19, at The Kensington White Plains, surrounded by his seven children. He was the husband of Frances Kiley Freyer for 67 years.
A devoted father who liked to say that having so many children “keeps me young,” he never missed a single concert, play, exhibition or ceremony for any of his children and put all seven through college.
Fred worked most of his life as an art director for a commercial art company in Manhattan. But he brought a joyful enthusiasm to many other pursuits.
He loved railroads and built an extensive model railroad in the basement. He also loved airplanes, crafting models that he hung from the ceiling.
He played the piano and filled his home with recorded music, from Frank Sinatra to Johnny Cash to Yo-Yo Ma. He enjoyed plays, ballet and art museums.
Fred exhaustively chronicled his family’s life in photographs, maintaining neatly catalogued boxes of slides and, later, photo albums from his world travels. Forever a New Yorker at heart even after moving to the suburbs, he avidly followed the Mets and read the New York Times.
Fred also took an interest in history. He served as an active member of the Crestwood Historical Society for decades and in retirement became its treasurer and unofficial public relations chief, creating artful posters to advertise its events.
He was an optimist: “All’s well,” “We’re having a fine time,” and “I can handle it" were his mottos. He transmitted this optimism to his children, often with the promise, “Everything will be all right."
Born in Brooklyn on April 24, 1930, and raised in the Bronx, he was the son of Henry Freyer and Edith Yormark Freyer and the great-grandson of immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Fred attended Evander Childs High School, graduating in 1948. He spent his summers playing the piano and leading a small band in the Catskills. He was elected president of his senior class in both high school and college.
Fred was accepted into the highly competitive art program at The Cooper Union, where he studied from 1948 to 1951, each day taking the Third Avenue elevated train from home in the Bronx. He left Cooper Union before graduating to enlist in the Navy during the Korean Conflict. With the rank of photographer's mate petty officer 2nd class, he was able to indulge two of his loves, flying and photography.
In the early 1950s, two events shaped his future.
In the summer of 1950, he took a job as a camp counselor at a resort in Moodus, Conn. There, he met 17-year-old Frances Ellen Kiley, who was working as a waitress in the children’s dining room. He would later describe that summer as idyllic, saying the two of them were “besotted” with love. They eventually married, in 1953, at the chapel at the University of Connecticut.
Also around this time, Fred attended a Roman Catholic Mass with Fran at her church in Middletown, Conn. He was impressed with the majesty of the church’s rituals and the robustness of its doctrine, and converted to Catholicism while in the Navy. He remained a devout Catholic throughout his life, attending Our Lady of Fatima Church in Crestwood in his later years.
After leaving the Navy in 1955, Fred joined the commercial art company Fenga and Donderi in Manhattan, over the decades ascending to art director and vice president at the firm, which eventually became Fenga and Freyer.
In 1981 he was hired as director of graphics studio operations at Comart, supervising a staff of 16 artists, graphics technicians, typographers and proofreaders until 1994. He was a member of the Art Directors Club of New York, and for many years entertained his colleagues playing the piano at the club’s lunches.
In 1995, he completed his college degree at Berkeley College in White Plains. He also attended secretarial school, bemused to find himself learning typing and other clerical skills among a group of mostly young people.
That training led to a job at Metal Finishing Magazine in Tarrytown in 1995. He worked as Books Department manager, handling sales, consulting on graphics and representing the company at trade shows.
After retiring in 2002, he traveled widely with his beloved Frances until he became her primary caretaker as she became increasingly impaired by dementia.
The Freyers had lived in the Sunnyside Park section of Yonkers from 1964 to 1988. Then they moved to a white stucco house in the Crestwood section, memorable in the neighborhood for the large yew bush that Fred encircled with colored lights every Christmas.
In December 2019, Fred and Fran found a new home at The Kensington White Plains, where they were cared for with genuine love, and where Fran continues to live. Fred was content and comfortable at The Kensington, but a fall during a hospital visit in October triggered a series of medical setbacks that he could not overcome.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, H. Eugene Freyer and his wife, Iris, of New City, N.Y., Felice J. Freyer of Smithfield, R.I., Amy E. Chin and her husband, Quentin, of Pittsfield, Mass., Jennifer Freyer of New York City, Frederick Q. Freyer and his wife, Jaye, of Eastchester, N.Y., Nancy J. Wissman and her husband, Thomas, of Blauvelt, N.Y., and Christopher J. Freyer of Eastchester, N.Y.; his adoring sister and brother-in-law, Phyllis and Henry Behar of Litchfield, Conn.; eight grandchildren, Nicole Arasim, Stephanie Solomon, Daniel Crowell, Emily Johnson, Frederic “Jake” Freyer, Allegra Chin, Robert Wissman, and Mya Wissman; and two great-grandchildren, Calvin and Ozzie Arasim.
A funeral Mass for family only will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at the Annunciation Church in Crestwood, and streamed live at https://venue.streamspot.com/bbcbe56c. A memorial service and interment of ashes are planned for the spring.
Donations can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center or the Alzheimer’s Association.
A devoted father who liked to say that having so many children “keeps me young,” he never missed a single concert, play, exhibition or ceremony for any of his children and put all seven through college.
Fred worked most of his life as an art director for a commercial art company in Manhattan. But he brought a joyful enthusiasm to many other pursuits.
He loved railroads and built an extensive model railroad in the basement. He also loved airplanes, crafting models that he hung from the ceiling.
He played the piano and filled his home with recorded music, from Frank Sinatra to Johnny Cash to Yo-Yo Ma. He enjoyed plays, ballet and art museums.
Fred exhaustively chronicled his family’s life in photographs, maintaining neatly catalogued boxes of slides and, later, photo albums from his world travels. Forever a New Yorker at heart even after moving to the suburbs, he avidly followed the Mets and read the New York Times.
Fred also took an interest in history. He served as an active member of the Crestwood Historical Society for decades and in retirement became its treasurer and unofficial public relations chief, creating artful posters to advertise its events.
He was an optimist: “All’s well,” “We’re having a fine time,” and “I can handle it" were his mottos. He transmitted this optimism to his children, often with the promise, “Everything will be all right."
Born in Brooklyn on April 24, 1930, and raised in the Bronx, he was the son of Henry Freyer and Edith Yormark Freyer and the great-grandson of immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Fred attended Evander Childs High School, graduating in 1948. He spent his summers playing the piano and leading a small band in the Catskills. He was elected president of his senior class in both high school and college.
Fred was accepted into the highly competitive art program at The Cooper Union, where he studied from 1948 to 1951, each day taking the Third Avenue elevated train from home in the Bronx. He left Cooper Union before graduating to enlist in the Navy during the Korean Conflict. With the rank of photographer's mate petty officer 2nd class, he was able to indulge two of his loves, flying and photography.
In the early 1950s, two events shaped his future.
In the summer of 1950, he took a job as a camp counselor at a resort in Moodus, Conn. There, he met 17-year-old Frances Ellen Kiley, who was working as a waitress in the children’s dining room. He would later describe that summer as idyllic, saying the two of them were “besotted” with love. They eventually married, in 1953, at the chapel at the University of Connecticut.
Also around this time, Fred attended a Roman Catholic Mass with Fran at her church in Middletown, Conn. He was impressed with the majesty of the church’s rituals and the robustness of its doctrine, and converted to Catholicism while in the Navy. He remained a devout Catholic throughout his life, attending Our Lady of Fatima Church in Crestwood in his later years.
After leaving the Navy in 1955, Fred joined the commercial art company Fenga and Donderi in Manhattan, over the decades ascending to art director and vice president at the firm, which eventually became Fenga and Freyer.
In 1981 he was hired as director of graphics studio operations at Comart, supervising a staff of 16 artists, graphics technicians, typographers and proofreaders until 1994. He was a member of the Art Directors Club of New York, and for many years entertained his colleagues playing the piano at the club’s lunches.
In 1995, he completed his college degree at Berkeley College in White Plains. He also attended secretarial school, bemused to find himself learning typing and other clerical skills among a group of mostly young people.
That training led to a job at Metal Finishing Magazine in Tarrytown in 1995. He worked as Books Department manager, handling sales, consulting on graphics and representing the company at trade shows.
After retiring in 2002, he traveled widely with his beloved Frances until he became her primary caretaker as she became increasingly impaired by dementia.
The Freyers had lived in the Sunnyside Park section of Yonkers from 1964 to 1988. Then they moved to a white stucco house in the Crestwood section, memorable in the neighborhood for the large yew bush that Fred encircled with colored lights every Christmas.
In December 2019, Fred and Fran found a new home at The Kensington White Plains, where they were cared for with genuine love, and where Fran continues to live. Fred was content and comfortable at The Kensington, but a fall during a hospital visit in October triggered a series of medical setbacks that he could not overcome.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, H. Eugene Freyer and his wife, Iris, of New City, N.Y., Felice J. Freyer of Smithfield, R.I., Amy E. Chin and her husband, Quentin, of Pittsfield, Mass., Jennifer Freyer of New York City, Frederick Q. Freyer and his wife, Jaye, of Eastchester, N.Y., Nancy J. Wissman and her husband, Thomas, of Blauvelt, N.Y., and Christopher J. Freyer of Eastchester, N.Y.; his adoring sister and brother-in-law, Phyllis and Henry Behar of Litchfield, Conn.; eight grandchildren, Nicole Arasim, Stephanie Solomon, Daniel Crowell, Emily Johnson, Frederic “Jake” Freyer, Allegra Chin, Robert Wissman, and Mya Wissman; and two great-grandchildren, Calvin and Ozzie Arasim.
A funeral Mass for family only will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at the Annunciation Church in Crestwood, and streamed live at https://venue.streamspot.com/bbcbe56c. A memorial service and interment of ashes are planned for the spring.
Donations can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center or the Alzheimer’s Association.