Martin Thomas “Marty” Fredericks, born May 12, 1921, in Petaluma, CA, died suddenly of heart failure in Sonoma, his home of many years, on Father’s Day, June 20, 2010 at the age of 89. The son of Martin T. Fredericks Sr. and Mary Cline Fredericks, his family has lived in Sonoma County since after the Civil War. After attending St. Vincent’s grammar and high schools in Petaluma, he was educated by the Jesuits at Santa Clara University (’42). He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946 in the Aleutians and the South Pacific. He was the Naval Attaché to the US delegation at the creation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1946.
He worked in the agricultural division of Pfizer Inc. for 32 years in San Francisco, Tokyo, New York and Sonoma. As a young man, he remembers driving on a dirt road between Petaluma and Sonoma to visit his uncle, Dr. Fred Butler, Superintendent of Sonoma Developmental Center and his cousin Peggy Butler McAleese. Marty and Mary were well traveled, having visited every continent except Antarctica. Notable quote: “The smartest thing I ever did was marry that woman.”
Martin is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Mary O’Brien Fredericks, of Sonoma; he is also survived by his children: Marty, Jim, Tom and Bill Fredericks, and Ann Fredericks Jauco.
Friends are invited to attend a Requiem mass at St. Leo’s Church, 666 Agua Caliente Road in Boyes Hot Springs, on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. A vigil service will be held at St. Leo’s at 7:00 p.m., Monday, June 28, 2010. Private inurnment will take place at a later date at the St. Francis Solano Cemetery in Sonoma. Arrangements are under the direction of Duggan’s Mission Chapel and Mission Cremation Service; (707) 996-3655 or www.duggansmissionchapel.com.
