Fred Coldren – A Stalwart American

When I received the call from Bob Grace telling me of the death of Fred Coldren, I was stunned – as I write this, I am still stunned. It wasn’t that long ago I called him on his cellphone, and he answered it from atop a ladder on which he was painting his tall home in Cape May. To me, he was the picture of health. He had had his knees replaced two or three years ago, as I recall, making it hard to climb the stairs of the Herald building for our monthly Cape Issues meetings. Rehab cured that quickly and he returned to the ol’ Fred.
So when Bob told me he was dead, I had no way of processing the information. Bob had learned of it through Bill Wasekanes, the Boy Scouts executive – the Scouts are a tight-knit group. For a lifetime, Bob and Fred have been active in Scouting, both being Eagle Scouts, and they frequently discussed Scout business after Cape Issues meetings. Those of us who knew Fred know how important Scouting was to him; I think Eagle Scouts are like marines: “Once a Marine, always a Marine;” “Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout.”
In an effort to encapsulate Fred’s bearing and his character, allow me to refer to the Boy Scout’s own goals for the men they work to mold: To build character; to train them in the responsibilities of citizenship; to build future leaders by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun.
Boy Scouts of America state that over the past century they have helped build the future leaders of this country and have been instrumental in constructing a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society. If Fred Coldren is typical of the young men Scouts form, then they do a superlative job.
In addition to respecting Fred’s character, we share another bond. Back in the Herald’s formative years, Fred was the editor of what was then the Avalon Herald, and his interest in the Herald never waned. We frequently would chat about some of the earlier founders of the paper; he would also ask me to discuss new developments in technologies, and we would compare them to the old, labor-intensive ways of composing and printing.
Six years ago Fred, Tom Flud and I sat down over lunch to muse on the future of our county and how we might do our part to make it better. Out of that discussion Cape Issues was born (by the way, the name, Cape Issues, was Fred’s choice). Fred’s particular interest, and his task, was to insure that municipal and county budgets were posted on the Herald website; he stayed on that work until his death Jan. 29.
Fred loved our nation to the core of his being, and over his lifetime strove to strengthen it. He was a founding member of Young Americans for Freedom, and he maintained a daily correspondence with fellow members. The organization is committed to states’ rights, the market economy, respect for the Constitution, and respect for personal property, specifically stating that when government “…takes from one to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both.”
Fred stalwartly defended his beliefs his entire life. He will be sorely missed.
From the Bible — 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable.