Arthur with Mary Elizabeth and Martha, memorial Day 2012
Our hearts are breaking this morning...
In fact, I think the whole town of Falmouth is heartbroken.
We have lost a very special friend. Arthur Fredricksen, our very own "man in the basement" passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, April 24th.
For those of you from the Scarborough group or new to our Falmouth group, here is some background...
Mary Elizabeth's Tuesday night WW group meets at the Falmouth American Legion Hall, where Arthur Frederiksen is "The Man". I've linked an
article from the Falmouth Forecaster (11/11/10) that talks about some of his involvement in the American Legion, and in our community, over the years.
Arthur would set up the chairs and tables for our WW meeting each Tuesday afternoon and then wait downstairs in his office (aka "the basement") until our meeting was over so that he could singlehandedly put all the chairs and tables away again. Sometimes, during a meeting, he'd try to sneak behind Mary Elizabeth to get to the basement, but she'd invariably catch him in a practical joke on his way by, much to the delight of all the Weight Watchers in the audience. Well, Arthur was a humble man who shied away from the spotlight (except when he was leading a parade!). He admitted over coffee recently that he had started sneaking into the basement through the bulkhead on Tuesday nights so he wouldn't have to face all us crazy weight watchers (my words) at once!
Arthur with Senator Susan Collins
Mary Elizabeth never exactly told us the details of her relationship with Arthur but I think they had a little soft spot for each other. (Don't tell her I said this on the blog!). Arthur would ask her out, she would decline, and then she'd drive him home and sit and talk in the driveway...makes you wonder, doesn't it? Well, I can't blame Mary Elizabeth if she did have
the hots some feelings for Arthur...who could blame her?
To "Baby Boomer" me, Arthur was a father figure. He reminded me so much of my own Dad, who also served in the army in WWII. He and Arthur were about the same age, were both from Connecticut, and both had such a "can do" attitude. I didn't realize how much I had come to think of Arthur as a father figure until I heard of his passing.
Over the past few years, Hank and I have gotten into the habit of stopping at the Falmouth Dunkin' Donuts for coffee most mornings. Usually Arthur was there. Every morning at about 7:30 a.m., Arthur and "the guys" would arrive, sit in the same exact seats by the window and discuss the news of the day. Over coffee, they debated everything from politics to the weather to Zumbagate. Sometimes, if we were lucky, Arthur would move down one table to sit with us for a few minutes. On those mornings, we had the chance to get to know Arthur as so much more than "the man in the basement". He became a friend.
On the Saturday morning before Easter, Arthur came in to Dunkin' Donuts holding a big Bath & Body Works bag. After ordering his coffee, he quietly made his way from one of the Dunkin' Donuts baristas to the other passing out gifts. He wished each of them a "Happy Easter" and they each gave him a hug in turn. When Arthur realized that we had observed his kindness, he said, "Oh, I just try to do a little something for them now and then."
On another recent Saturday morning, I stopped at Dunkin' Donuts with my daughter on our "girls' day out". Of course, Arthur was there. Without hesitation, he came right over to shake hands with Kristen and make conversation with her. My daughter has disabilities and it warmed my heart to watch Arthur ignore them and make her feel so special and pretty. That's just how he was. When I saw him the next day, Arthur told me that meeting Kristen had made his day. The truth was, he made ours.
Arthur walked all over Falmouth...to and from his home, Dunkin' Donuts, and the Legion Hall. He was full of energy and full of ideas to honor our veterans and to improve our community. Most recently, he was trying to put together a project with the manager of our local Dunkin' Donuts that would be co-sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts and the Falmouth American Legion. That's because he had already finished the planning for this year's Falmouth Memorial Day parade. Just last Saturday morning Arthur reported over coffee that the 2013 parade is "all set". Arthur's unselfish dedication to his community may best be summed up in this quote from him:
"If you don't take care of the community, you don't survive."
-the Falmouth Forecaster, 11/11/10.
Arthur Frederiksen was a graduate of Falmouth High School and served in the Army in WWII. In 2009, he was honored as Falmouth's
Citizen of the Year.
At that time, Arthur was quoted in the Falmouth Forecaster (July 8, 2009) as saying:
"It's been a great trip – that's the way I look at life in general," he said. "I'm trying to give something back in appreciation of what was done for me."
God Bless You, Arthur...you'll be so very missed.
