Fred L. Nettere

Fred L. Nettere, age 97, of Stuart Florida passed away on Sunday, August 22nd 2021 from natural causes. Born Fernand Levy on March 15th, 1924 in New York City, he carried that moniker till he was 12 years old when, fearing pre-war antisemitism in Europe, his mom Alice Marchessault (of Mass) changed the family name to Nettere and Fern became Fred Leon Nettere. His father Leon Levy (of Paris, France) migrated to New York, eventually leaving the family and Fred with no father. Amidst family duress, at 5 years old Fred was enrolled into the Christian Brothers Military Academy on the Hudson Bay to sequester him from family matters, codify his Christianity and set the trajectory for a military career, his mom’s goal. In 1952, the year his first grandson was born, Leon died at 67 in Philadelphia.

Fred adored his Uncle Dave. David Abrevaya, his mom’s brother in law, became his best friend and father figure when abandoned by Leon. Fred spoke of Uncle Dave with reverence his entire life and we reckon it was Dave who, as a Pharmacist for 40 years, a very bright and gentle man, sometimes whiskey bootlegger in NYC, knew something about life and guided Fred through the family’s madness. His attention and fatherly affection helped Fred in ways we can only speculate about. We do know however, that Fred bootlegged whiskey himself in south Texas in his military years, made some money and got out. Interesting how this may illustrate both the ying and the yang of life lessons imparted by Uncle Dave, his surrogate father.

Fred served as a navigator in the wartime Army’s Air Force, but before getting orders for an overseas mission, he was reassigned as a swimming instructor to help improve the awful survival rate among “downed” pilots who were drowning for lack of swimming skills. When Grandpa Marchessault passed, Fred was given leave to be at the funeral. The crew replaced Fred with another GI navigator and the new crew (sans Fred) embarked on its first mission “over there”. They never returned. Fred, after the war, worked as a counselor and swimming instructor at summer Camp in the Catskills where he met the love of his life Madeline when she was 17 and he was 21. Married in 1950, they were a couple until December 18th 2003 when we lost Mom.

Inherent optimism and the skill to make lemonade from the lemons present in his life, Fred always seemed Lucky and happy, characteristics we hope were passed along to his sons: Steven (69), Mark (66) and Eric who we tragically lost at 58 on May 14th 2014.

3 years into a bachelor’s degree at Michigan State Univ, Fred got his degree and headed for NYC where he landed an editorial job at the Wall Street Journal. He was quickly introduced to the sales division and learned the ropes on the streets of NY while dating Madeline. Then, as a sort of pioneer in the early 1950’s, when widespread use of Television was ramping up, Fred joined the CBS TV network in Manhattan. Later he became president of the sales division at ABC TV in the “Howard Cossell Speaking of Sports” era. His NYC swan song project was founding partner of Major Market Television (MMT) - a television station rep firm still in operation nationally. His last gig from 1975 to 1991, was captain of the family radio station in Stuart Fl.

Our Dad had an instinct, which rendered him quite skilled at explaining how things work. Teaching. We learned everything from him: telling time and learning math before kindergarten, handling weapons, football, skiing, sailing, tennis, driving in snow at 11 yrs old and his instincts offered other essentials like Catching a Bag of Dark (to prove it was harmless as I was afraid of the dark for a time). Not the least of his teachings was getting ice cream to the right temperature for consuming with optimal enjoyment. Chocolate was his favorite and in fact, the very last meal of his long life.

Fred leaves 3 grandchildren: Mark’s son Carl, 42 of Florida, and Eric’s children, Oliver, 28 of North Carolina and Isabelle, 25 in New York City.

Fred outlived all of his friends and contemporaries, an irony not lost on those of us wishing to celebrate his life, looking around the room for any of them with whom a celebration would be first order. We reached out and found no one left except cherished cousin Annette who is 12 years younger than Fred and the daughter of his beloved Uncle Dave and his mom’s sister Loretta.

Fred lived a clean life. He always honored his girl Madeline and was passionate in the management of his family. We will miss him. His leaving us on Mom’s birthday may tell it’s own story; a lovely opening for personal interpretation we reckon.

A celebration of life for Fred will be held Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Howard-Quattlebaum Funeral Cremation and Event Center, 754 Us Highway 1, North Palm Beach, FL 33408, followed by a prayer service from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.howard-quattlebaum.com for the Nettere family.