Friday, March 7, 2025
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FRED KOHLMEIER, WAS A TRULY REMARKABLE MAN
The love of my life and the husband and father I knew, had dry humor, a quick wit, and uncanny timing. He was good for a quick comeback that had a way of taking you by surprise. You might miss one of his quips if you weren't on on your toes. We shared a complementary sense of humor and taste in television programs. As his hearing deteriorated we watched anything that had English subtitles. He loved British humor, as I did, yet much of his TV viewing most recently had been binge watching rescued puppy videos on YouTube.
Back in the day, he was known to take in wayward children and orphaned kittens. He had a deep appreciation for wildlife and he provided food for all the locals...ducks, squirrels, chipmunks and deer, to name but a few. The fattest squirrels on the block were seen under HIS tree, sometimes a dozen at a time. Never underestimate the generosity of an 83 year old man who can still lift a 50 lb bag of bird seed. He doted on all of his pets, and when their journeys ended, he made each one a grave behind his house. I know he shed a tear for every one of them, even mine. He loved his granddogs, Odie, Annie and River, and he spoiled them every chance he got with treats or tidbits from his plate. He was a soft touch and a sucker for a furry face.
Fred's interests and knowledge were as vast as they were varied, and he had a truly genius intellect. He could build or fix anything. He built the first computer system to run a hospital lab and then expanded the system to essentially run the hospital. He was never duly recognized for this, probably because he did it over the course of more than 50 years, working in a tiny office piled high with programming books, salvaged equipment and computer printouts in Genesee Hospital's basement. But he was the guy everyone asked when they needed something.
He loved his family so much, even me.... but I was best at annoying him. He looked after everyone. He never let his family down if they needed something...anything; to answer a tough question, to borrow a tool, to stick his head under the hood of a broken vehicle, or just a hot meal if you were hungry. He could give you a correct and detailed answer to just about any question you could ask, and many you wouldn't have even thought to ask. So when you hear a deep voice telling you to do something a certain way, DO IT, or you'll be reviewing all of the potential possibilities he could have given for what could happen if you didn't.
Each of you, at some apparently random moment, will remember something he said, something you learned from him or something you admired about him. These thoughts will come seemingly at random, but I know it's because his impact on others in his lifetime was profound.
Above all, Fred was a United States Marine to the core. He had a quiet determination, was stubborn as he could be, yet he was a man of humility, dignity and genuine good humor. He had a tender heart and a gentle soul and he was strong and stoic and brave right to the end. I know we will miss his presence, but he's still with us, making sure we do things with proper supervision. Semper fi.
