Frederick Joseph Culpepper

I knew Fred for 69 years. He was the most honorable kid, teen, man, and old man I knew. When I was 4 years old my father was in the hospital for a few days and shared a room with Fred's dad, and they became friends. My dad talked about our nice neighborhood and the Culpepper family moved there. Fred and I roamed the street with cap guns and had many little kid adventures. Christmas at the Culpepper’s house was a treat. His mom made all types of cookies, his dad had a big train set in the basement, and Fred played his Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas record. I guess that’s how his love music got started. We got lucky by being in the same first grade class together. We shared classes during other years until the Culpeppers moved to Pennsylvania. The next 2 years we got together a few times when Fred came back to camp and fish. At the U of D we quickly found each other. I have great memories of Fred's dorm room, Phi Zappa Krappa wall poster, towel blocking the bottom of the door and Led Zeppelin playing. We had some classes together including The American Indian where we were assigned to read The Teachings of Don Juan which gave us great insight into to the relationship of man and other animals and the benefits of a little smoke. During our 3 hr evening class Art History, Fred learned the hard way that if he had a little mj before every class, he couldn’t pass the tests unless he had a little mj before the test. We shared an apartment together, Fred and I in the same room, with a blanket hung to separate the two beds. It was a little awkward since we both had coed night visitors but we got use to it. We were both hired to work at the Stone Balloon, the college town’s hottest tavern/night club. Live music 5 nights a week. There we worked, partied, and met a lot of girls. We worked year-round but in summer we found times to drive 85 miles to the beach at 1:30am to fish the pier, camp and fish at Trap Pond, hike, camp and fish in West Virginia, and go to Phiilies games at Connie Mack. One afternoon, Pirates in town, my baseball hero Willie Stargell in left field, Fred leaned over the outfield wall and yelled,”Hey Willie, peace”. while holding up the peace sign. To our delight, Willie returned the gesture and yelled “Peace”. Thanks Fred. We also drove to Philadelphia for concerts. A couple of memorable nights were a Doors concert, floor seating, 9th row, a little on the high side of life, and a Leon Russell concert where Fred, usually and expert pathfinder, led us into a bad area of town were we were attacked with bricks and bottles and saved by a cop. That was the only mistake I remember Fred making in 69 years, if you don’t count errant lure casts, eating raw hamburger and hugging the toilet for hours, and forgetting his fishing license on a day we got checked. After our college years we backpacked and fished in Glacier NP, the Sawtooths, and the White Clouds. In later years we had a lot of 2 hour phone calls and some great fishing trips. I had the pleasure of joining Fred at his cabin in Canada several years for excellent fishing and hospitality. We also had a couple of great trips to SW Louisiana to fish with an old college friend who schooled us on bayou fishing and sac-a-lait (we thought they were called crappie) . Fred was always very meticulous. That’s a good trait, but sometimes you had to wait a long time for him to get his fishing gear ready. He was a great fishing partner and usually knew where the fish were. One of his many fishing skills was setting the hook with gusto. Fred grew up scouting and lived the Scout Law. Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, brave, courteous, kind, thrifty, cheerful. That was Fred. I admired and looked up to Fred. I learned from Fred. He was Knowledgeable and respectful about nature, adventurous, had a great sense of humor, and was a great storyteller. It was wonderful having him as a friend for so long. Many of the best times I had were with him. I’ll always remember our times together and know that when we meet in heaven he will have all the good fishing spots meticulously checked out and still be doing his powerful hook set. Love you Fred