Frederick J Wyman

LEXINGTON-Frederick John Wyman, 89, father, grandfather and great-grandfather to the Meyers and Caudills of Lexington, died peacefully in his sleep Wednesday at Presbyterian Village.

Fred was born July 4, 1921 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He moved at age seven to Syracuse, New York, where his mother ran a boardinghouse and raised her three sons. On May 16, 1942 Fred married Catherine Mae Rice. He returned from his honeymoon to a draft notice.

Fred served as a captain in the 374th Army Air Force Troop Carrier Group in the South Pacific during World War II. He piloted cargo planes and a night courier service for General Douglas MacArthur. He was navigator on the New Guinea mission that discovered “Shangri-La”, a remote but inhabited mountain valley from which WAC Margaret Hastings was famously rescued in 1945.

Back Stateside, Fred built and painted houses during the postwar housing shortage. He studied engineering at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. He worked as expediter and manager for Crouse-Hinds and Carrier and retired as senior manager of materiel control from Whirlpool Corporation of Findlay, Ohio in 1983. He put all four children through college.

An avid golfer, he spent his long active retirement on the links and traveling widely with his beloved Katie, who passed on in 2000. Fred was a private man, yet he loved people and charmed everyone he met with his plainspoken humor, character and blue eyes.

He is survived by four children: son, Frederick II, Dallas, TX; daughter, Debra Koppel, OrangCounty CA; daughter, Kathleen Meyer, Lexington, S.C.; daughter Sandra Sooy, Solon, OH; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He will be greatly missed.

The memorial service will be held at a future date. Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel is assisting the family.