Oct. 29, 1926 - Aug. 12, 2008

Dorothy Fredericks was born in Webster, Mass., on Oct. 29, 1926. From an early age and throughout her whole life she was known as Dot. Her early years were difficult. The family was poor and her mother and father divorced when Dot was 4 years old. From that time until she was nine she and her younger brother were placed in homes that would be considered the equivalent of foster homes today. At age 9 she was placed in a sanitarium with a diagnosis of tuberculosis. She remained there for a year and a half.

While she was in the sanitarium her mother remarried and Dot's new home was Millbury, Mass. She remained there until after high school graduation. She went to work as a secretary in a woolen mill. It was during this period that she started dating Bud Fredericks who was student at Holy Cross College.

At about age 20, she moved to Rockville, Conn., and lived with her father. She obtained employment as a secretary in a local mill. Bud graduated from Holy Cross and became a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Dot and Bud married on Aug. 8, 1948, in a beautiful ceremony at the Navel Academy chapel with the traditional arch of swords in Annapolis, Md.

Dot and Bud honeymooned in Washington, D.C., and then traveled cross country to San Francisco where Dot was going to wait until she could follow Bud to his duty station is Tsingtao, China. However, the civil war in China progressed too fast and all military dependents were sent home. Dot then realized that she was pregnant and quit her job at a San Francisco paper and returned home to Millbury to await her baby and Bud's return from overseas.

Bud returned four hours after Dot and their baby, Wendy, returned home from the hospital. This was to be the first of a number of separations that the couple would endure. Year long separations would occur when Bud was in Korea; Okinawa, Japan; and Vietnam. In addition, Dot faced the daunting task of moving at least every three years and frequently more often. During all this time she was the perfect Marine wife, providing a beautiful home, raising their four children, entertaining in an elegant style and placidly putting up with all the difficulties and turmoil associated with being married to a Marine Corps officer.

While in the Marine Corps, she found herself living in Oceanside, Calif., Annapolis, Md., Washington, D.C., Stanford, N.Y., and Hawaii. Bud's final duty station was Corvallis, in 1965 where he was the Executive Officer of the NROTC unit. While stationed here, Dot's fifth child, Timothy, was born. Tim had Down Syndrome, and changed the lives of Dot and Bud.

Rather than plague Dot with more year long separations, Bud retired from the Marine Corps and took an academic appointment with Teaching Research in Monmouth. Bud's academic specialty was special education. It became Dot's avocation as she learned everything she could so she could effectively teach her son, Tim.

These were exciting years for the family as they coped with a number of teenagers, the marriage of their oldest daughter, and then sadly the death of their son, Steve, who died of cancer at age 21. During this time and others, Dot demonstrated her great strength to deal with adversity and yet continue to manage the needs of her diverse family. At the same time she continued to excel as a hostess and held numerous dinner parties for both her friends and her husband's academic associates.

Bud's work demanded extensive travel, but fortunately Dot could accompany him to the more interesting places. Australians invited them to a six-week stay. New Zealand was a side trip. The Federal Government had them visit American Samoa and all the Trust territories throughout the Pacific Ocean. There were conferences in England, Ireland and Sweden. And then of course there were vacations to Italy, France, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Nepal, Bermuda, a photo safari in Kenya and Tanzania, a couple of trips to Alaska, numerous visits to Hawaii and a memorable trip to Mexico with 14 of her family members.

Beside her many responsibilities and activities, she generously gave her time to various local organizations. In the early days, she was very active in the ARC of Benton County. At one time she served as its president. In addition, she was instrumental in establishing a parent support group, Mother's Mutual, for those who had a child with developmental disabilities. She was the lead in establishing the first ARC Thrift Shop and was its first manager. More recently, she was active in fundraising for the Children's Farm Home and contributed financially to local nonprofits.

Dot felt that she was very fortunate to have lived such a full life. She felt blessed that her three daughters all lived within an hour's ride, and that she had the opportunity to frequently see her 13 grandchildren. She loved it when they all gathered for a family party and loved to sing and dance with them. Her family can imagine her in Heaven having a wonderful party.

A Memorial Mass will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 30 at St. Mary's Catholic Church. A reception will follow. Donations can be made to Benton County Hospice, Jackson Street Youth Shelter, Mid-Valley Housing Plus, Work Unlimited, ARC of Benton County or the Children's Farm Home.