In 1922 the family moved from Rockland to Thornton Heights, South Portland, where Fred grew up and graduated from South Portland High School, class of 1940; after graduation, Fred enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps for three years. Following recruit training at Fort Devens, Mass., he left Brooklyn Army Base on a troopship taking replacements to Puerto Rico, Panama, Hawaii and the Philippines; he left the ship in Panama to begin a two-year tour of duty at Howard Field in the Canal Zone.
The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor changed the term of enlistment for all servicemen to last as directed for the duration of the war. In 1944 he was reassigned to Bergstrom Army Air Force Base, Austin, Texas. In June 1945, he was honorable discharged with the rank of Technical Sergeant when the U.S. began reducing the strength of its armed forces.
Frederick returned home and began attending the University of Maine at Orono. While a student he met Ada Catherine Minott; they were married in August 1947 in Phippsburg. They took up full-time residence in Phippsburg in 1949 after he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. While at the university he was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve (Field Artillery). He remained in the Army Reserve until the mid- 1950s.
In 1950 he began working for the First National Bank of Bath as a teller; in 1957 he was made cashier. In 1960 the bank merged with the First Portland National Bank, which continued to grow and subsequently became Maine National Bank. When he retired from MNB in 1984 he was the bank’s Vice President for Purchasing, Insurance and Security.
Fred was deeply involved in community and church affairs until advancing age compelled him to reduce his activities. He was Scoutmaster for the Phippsburg Boy Scouts troop in 1951 and 1952. In the 1960s he was involved with the troop sponsored by St. Mary’s Church in Bath. With only a few exceptions, he was the moderator of all the Phippsburg annual and special town meetings from 1951 until he was elected Selectman in 1985. He served three 3-year terms as Selectman from 1985–1994; he served as Chairman of the Southern Mid- Coast Council of Governments 1990–1992; he was elected to the Maine Municipal Association Legislative Policy Committee; and he was elected to the Sagadahoc County Budget Committee and was Chairman his last year with the committee.
He was a devout parishioner at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Bath. At St. Mary’s he was a CCD teacher in the late 1960s and early 1970s; he was a Lector beginning in 1964 and a Eucharistic Minister from 1977; he was a member of Parish Council for 6 years in the 1970s, serving as the Council chairman during part of that time.
After he left the Board of Selectmen, from 1994 to 2002 he served on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of Maine.
He and Ada enjoyed boating on the Kennebec and nearby coastal areas. He was also well known as a bicyclist, an activity he took up seriously for physical conditioning when he was in his 40’s. Highlights of his bike rides were “century rides” recognized by the Penobscot Wheelmen: a double century (200 miles within 24 hours) in 1972, and a triple century in 1974. Topping these achievements, in 1984 he and a friend went to Fairbanks, Alaska by car, train and ferry, then rode their bicycles down the west coast of Canada to Washington state and across the U.S. back to New England.
Fredrick is predeceased by his wife of 66 years, Ada, who passed away last fall, and his son Charles M. Haggett, who died at birth in 1955.
He is survived by two sons, Stephen of Phippsburg, Fredrick and wife Karen of Colorado; two granddaughters, Catherine, Caroline and fiance Matthew; and two grandsons, Michael, Fredrick and wife Rachel.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Tuesday, June 24 at 11 a.m. at St. Mary’s, 144 Lincoln St., Bath, Maine. Burial will take place at 2 p.m. at Morningside Cemetery in Phippsburg.
To share your thoughts and condolences with the family, please visit www.desmondfuneralhomes.com.
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