Frederick George Eickmeier

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Fred Eickmeier on February 8th 2022, surrounded by family at Toronto General Hospital. He was beloved husband to Evelyn for almost 34 years and proud father of Kim (Josh) and Derek. Loving brother to Doug (Susan), brother-in-law to Margrit (Pete) and uncle to Brian, Diane, Bianca and Chloe. He has gone to rest with his parents Oscar and Esther. Fred was born in 1950 in Stratford, Ontario. During his youth he enjoyed helping to run the family farm, motorcycling, and keeping little brother Doug out of trouble. He was a mechanical engineer by trade, working on mining and chemical plant projects across Canada, the US, and South America, building many enduring friendships along the way. Fred was particularly known for his kindness to which he displayed evenly towards family, friends, neighbours, pets and wildlife, or even strangers in passing – he always sought to do the right thing and help others. And of course, he was also famous for his ability to solve a wide array of problems with a pulley system, his unparalleled fashion sense (‘suspenders go with everything’), and cooking up a mean five-course breakfast at every opportunity. As a man of few words, Fred often preferred written forms of communication, frequently crafting highly anticipated poems for family member birthdays, holidays, or sometimes just because he thought of a clever rhyme. Above all, Fred took great joy in his children’s pursuits throughout his life, supporting them in a myriad of ways – from coaching basketball and softball teams, to helping to build ‘to-scale’ (very important to Fred) models for Kim and Derek’s Latin projects, and more recently, lending an ear and providing encouragement for the university/career/life decisions of the day. In his nearly 72 years, Fred inadvertently entertained us all with countless and affectionately termed ‘Fred Stories’ that always highlighted his unique approach to life and kept everyone laughing. He will be dearly missed.

The family is welcoming donations to a couple of charities in honour of Fred: University Health Network given the world-class team of doctors who cared for Fred in various ways over the last several years, and Save Our Scruff Toronto Dog Rescue in honour of the kindness and compassion Fred had for animals throughout his life.

Cremation is taking place and due to COVID, a funeral / celebration of life is being planned for the Spring where we look forward to sharing our favourite ‘Fred Stories’. Further details to come.