Fred was born on April 5, 1937, in Rochester, NY, the son of George and Emily (Cope) Johnson. He married Nancy Ann Carroll in Honeoye, NY, on August 22, 1964. A graduate of Irondequoit High School (Class of 1955), Fred obtained a BS from the University of Rochester in 1960 and later earned his MS and CAS from SUNY Brockport. Fred taught English in the Honeoye and Rochester school systems, worked as a program developer for the US Department of Education’s Migrant Education Program, and held school principal and superintendent positions in Otsego County, NY. He retired from Gilbertsville Central School in 1994 after completing its merger with Mount Upton and subsequently served multiple terms on the Gilbertsville-Mount Upton School Board.
With a lifelong passion for the outdoors, Fred belonged to the Susquehanna Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club and the Audubon Society. He and Nancy raised dairy goats, chickens and pigs in Bristol, NY, for several years and were early organic gardening enthusiasts. Fred loved to hike, camp, canoe, and cross-country ski with family and friends, particularly in the Adirondack Mountains.
Music was an integral part of Fred’s life: He was a member of the Catskill Choral Society, the Oneonta Concert Association, where he served as president and board member, and the Glimmerglass Opera Guild, where he also served as a volunteer usher.
Fred was a member and past president of the Morris Rotary Club, a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a Rotary Foundation Benefactor, and musical leader at the club’s weekly meetings. He and Nancy enjoyed traveling around and outside the U.S. visiting friends they made during his time as a Rotary District Governor and on the District Youth Exchange Committee. They hosted four Rotary exchange students while their daughters were in high school and three in later years.
After Nancy’s death in 2006, Fred chaired the Leadership Council of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Leatherstocking Chapter and participated in various fundraising activities.
Survivors include his daughters Melanie (Andrew) Oldeman, Manchester, MA; Rebecca (William Jones) Johnson, Ashland, OR; and Jennifer Johnson, Oneonta, NY; his grandchildren, Sylvie and Cooper Oldeman; Liam, Sophia, and Mirabella Jones; and Owen and Eliot Carr; his sister Alice (Robert) Vernon, Doylestown, PA; his sister-in-law Mary Ellen Royster, Falls Church, VA; and several nieces.
A celebration of Fred's life will take place on Saturday, October 12, from 2 to 4pm at the Foothills Performing Arts Center, 24 Market Street, Oneonta, NY. Family and friends are welcome to attend and share their memories of Fred. Those who wish to honor Fred may make contributions in his memory to Friends of The Huntington Memorial Library, PO Box 1036, Oneonta, NY, 13820 or SuperHeroes Humane Society, 160 Pony Farm Road, Oneonta, NY, 13820.
To send an online condolence please visit www.bookhoutfuneralhome.com
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