Fred Bernard Greenfield of Indianapolis, Indiana, formerly of Evansville, passed away on Saturday, April 9, 2022, at the age of 95 and 8 months. He was born on July 6, 1926, to George and Marie (Turner) Greenfield in Kansas City, Missouri. Fred grew up around New York City in areas such as Mount Vernon, New York, Litchfield, Connecticut, and Passaic, New Jersey, as his father was the “Wood, Field, and Stream” columnist for The New York Times.
Fred served in the Navy in World War II, as a radar man on the USS Appalachian (AGC1) in the Pacific. His superiors took he and his fellow sailors to Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings to survey the scenes. Fred remarked that it looked like broken pottery and glass as far as the eye could see.
Fred graduated from The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City in 1954 and attended the University of Miami, Columbia University, and The City College of New York as well. He became a close and lifelong friend of esteemed director and actor Sydney Pollack while at the Playhouse. He acted in “summer stock” productions at Princeton (University) Summer Theater, and the Maxinkuckee Playhouse in Culver, Indiana, in such productions as “The Country Girl” and “Stalag 17.” He worked in professional theater also, serving as lighting director and stage manager for the (Harry) Belafonte Folk Singers. He toured the country with them as well as with acting legends Helen Hayes and Maurice Evans, among others.
After moving to the Midwest with his wife and daughter, Fred spent 27 years working at Faultless Caster where he served as Sales Service Supervisor as well as Personnel Manager, retiring on June 28, 1991. Fred was an avid golfer and tennis player throughout his life and enjoyed traveling with his wife Ann to Captiva Island, Florida, as well as on her many business trips for Lewis Bakeries. He had fun playing in the Faultless Golf League and even played the #2 tennis player on the Mexican Davis Cup team in his early years. (Fred always said, “He was too good for me!”) He loved literature, including works by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and e e cummings.
Fred was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 53 years, Elizabeth Ann, who passed away in 2015. Also preceding him in death were his parents and his two brothers, George and Robert, who both died in April of 2014. He is survived by his daughter, Brett Ann Holloway, son-in-law Mark Holloway, grandsons Noah and Henry Holloway, brother-in-law Allen (Butch) Haun, sister-in-law Marilyn Greenfield, nieces Rita Felderman, Laura Haug, and Krista Dinsmore, and nephews George, Douglas, Richard, Robert, and Todd Greenfield and David Haun.
Family and friends are invited to attend the visitation and/or the funeral service, both held at Alexander Funeral Home North Chapel at 4200 Stringtown Road in Evansville. Visitation will take place on Friday, April 15 from 3 – 7 p.m. Funeral service will take place on Saturday, April 16 at 11 a.m. Interment to follow at New Clay Cemetery in Clay, Kentucky.
