I was stunned to see that "Derf" has left us. I was attending (skiing) Western State College in Gunnison, CO (often referred to as "wasted state") in '66-'67 and Fred was attending DU in Denver. I hitchhiked to Denver for a visit with him and was staying in his dorm. While there, another dorm resident, who was a skydiver, was packing his parachute in the hallway on Fred's floor. So Fred and I joined in to "help". Actually, we just followed instructions from the skydiving owner of the chute. Mostly just helping to get all the shroud lines lined up. So, anyway the chute got packed to the satisfaction of the owner and that was that. A short time later Fred contacted me with a story of the first jump after that repacking. The diver lept out of a perfectly good airplane (something I have never been able to understand) and deployed his main chute that we had assisted in repacking ... and nothing -- a "stringer" -- it did not open! Being the experienced and well trained skydiver that he was, he successfully deployed his reserve chute and landed safely. Turns out that the cause of the failure was static electricity. The carpet in the hallway where we repacked the main chute was new and a wool/nylon industrial blend. I learned that skydivers can repack their main chutes, but their reserve chutes must be packed by licensed professionals. Both Fred and I were very relieved that his dorm mate escaped this near mishap and that we were not at fault. I had many silly laughs with Fred in high school and was happy that we reunited for that one memorable visit in Denver. God speed Fred, you are missed.
Fred and I knew each other from St. John's Episcopal Church and, because we shared the same birthday, always felt a connection. Fred got his driver's license before I did and his mom would let him drive her new 1962 Chevrolet, especially if he was hanging out with his church budy. My dad had Gopher football tickets so Fred would drive and we would go to games on Saturday afternoons. Since my brother was in a fraternity at the U back then, we would stop at his fraternity and hang out with the college guys before the game and then walk down University Avenue to the stadium - pretty cool we thought. One of our first outings in his mom's car was to a party right after school got out in 1963. There I met Fred's next door neighbor, Linda O'Neal, who I ended up dating during the summer/fall of 1963.
Fred and I remained in contact during and after college but then lost touch - so I was shocked to hear that he had passed away at such a young age.
Patrick J. Ryan
I was stunned to see that "Derf" has left us. I was attending (skiing) Western State College in Gunnison, CO (often referred to as "wasted state") in '66-'67 and Fred was attending DU in Denver. I hitchhiked to Denver for a visit with him and was staying in his dorm. While there, another dorm resident, who was a skydiver, was packing his parachute in the hallway on Fred's floor. So Fred and I joined in to "help". Actually, we just followed instructions from the skydiving owner of the chute. Mostly just helping to get all the shroud lines lined up. So, anyway the chute got packed to the satisfaction of the owner and that was that. A short time later Fred contacted me with a story of the first jump after that repacking. The diver lept out of a perfectly good airplane (something I have never been able to understand) and deployed his main chute that we had assisted in repacking ... and nothing -- a "stringer" -- it did not open! Being the experienced and well trained skydiver that he was, he successfully deployed his reserve chute and landed safely. Turns out that the cause of the failure was static electricity. The carpet in the hallway where we repacked the main chute was new and a wool/nylon industrial blend. I learned that skydivers can repack their main chutes, but their reserve chutes must be packed by licensed professionals. Both Fred and I were very relieved that his dorm mate escaped this near mishap and that we were not at fault. I had many silly laughs with Fred in high school and was happy that we reunited for that one memorable visit in Denver. God speed Fred, you are missed.
Edward Resler
Fred and I knew each other from St. John's Episcopal Church and, because we shared the same birthday, always felt a connection. Fred got his driver's license before I did and his mom would let him drive her new 1962 Chevrolet, especially if he was hanging out with his church budy. My dad had Gopher football tickets so Fred would drive and we would go to games on Saturday afternoons. Since my brother was in a fraternity at the U back then, we would stop at his fraternity and hang out with the college guys before the game and then walk down University Avenue to the stadium - pretty cool we thought. One of our first outings in his mom's car was to a party right after school got out in 1963. There I met Fred's next door neighbor, Linda O'Neal, who I ended up dating during the summer/fall of 1963.
Fred and I remained in contact during and after college but then lost touch - so I was shocked to hear that he had passed away at such a young age.