David Munro has advised Paul Weirick that Fred James passed away recently & has asked him to pass the word to Fred\u2019s OTC colleagues. Fred was an engineer who worked primarily in the cable planning area. Paul advises that many of our engineers in the Vets would have known Fred very well.<\/p>\n
Fred had been battling Parkinson’s Disease for well over 5 years.\u00a0 Paul saw him about 5 years ago when the dementia was in its early stages. He & Marcia had moved into Woolooware Shores retirement village at Sylvania a few years earlier when Fred was first diagnosed. Marcia then cared for Fred at home until a few years ago, when he needed extra care & moved into Goodhew Gardens, the on-campus Residential Care facility.<\/p>\n
David comments that Marcia & the family are coping well & had a lovely service for Fred, which included a folder with a collection of OTC memorabilia.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cFred was a great collector and there were pamphlets about cable systems, photos, announcements, newspaper articles etc.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apart from Fred\u2019s OTC achievements, many of us might recall his heroic efforts during the 1994 Jannali\/Como bushfires when Fred stayed to defend their house with the result that theirs was the only house in the street which survived the fire. When Paul last spoke with him 5 years ago, despite the advancing dementia, Fred remembered that day in great detail, along with various technical details of cable systems he had been involved with over the years at OTC.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing what the mind clings to.<\/p>\n
We understand Fred was about 78.<\/p>\n
Marcia is keen to talk to any of her old acquaintances from the OTC fraternity and I can provide her contact details to those who are keen to do that. Please email me at president@otva.com for those details.<\/p>\n
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