Fred, 78, died in Meridian, Idaho, March 30, 2017, He was born on March 22, 1939, in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Fred graduated from Highland High School in 1958 and from Arizona State College, Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1962, with a B.S. degree in Forestry. He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve from 1962 to 1968. Fred began his firefighting career as a wildland firefighter in 1957, continuing as forester, firefighter, and pilot for NM State Forestry and U.S. Forest Service as forester, pilot, aviation manager, and program manager. Fred flew jumper at McCall and Redding in the 1980s.