Fred L. Honeycutt

Freddie Lee Honeycutt, was born on March 20, 1922 in Temple, Texas to Oscar and Muna (Allen) Honeycutt. Fred was the youngest of 7 children who all predeceased him. He attended a one room school house in Old Howard, Texas where he studied on desks ordered by his father from a salesman’s model; Oscar demanded the model as part of order to give to Fred to play with. Fred’s favorite story from his school days was about a young man with a pretty blonde woman (Bonnie and Clyde) who parked their fancy sedan outside the school house to drink from the well.

Fred worked on the family farm from childhood until 1944 when he was hired by American Desk in Temple to ironically build school desks. In 1947 he joined his brother-in-law, Lloyd Mousner, as a delivery man for Bell Bakery in Temple. Fred delivered any pecan pies that he didn’t eat. In 1954 Fred followed Lloyd to Texas A&M Power Plant and was hired by Guy Hines to work as a turbine operator. The Texas A&M power plant generated electricity, heat and hot water for the entire campus and power for sections of College Station. In 1962 Fred completed basic fireman training and was a volunteer at the local station.

With his wife, Vivian, and later his son, Steven, he lived in University Housing on Ball Street in a wonderful close-knit neighborhood with other A&M families including Lloyd and Cleo Mousner, Charlie & Betty Hodges, Alvin and Florene Houston and the Henry Lenz family. In 1969 he moved his family to Gilchrist Avenue in College Hills.

Fred retired as assistant manager from the power plant in 1984. Never one to sit still in 1985 Fred began shuttling vehicles for local car dealerships, such as Tom Light, with a group of men who became his close friends. Fred was always interested in cars from the time he drove his family’s Model T. For his own cars Fred did all his own maintenance.

Fred trained a couple of his backyard squirrels to eat pecans out of his hand. It’s surprising that he shared pecans with these squirrels because pecan pie remained his favorite dessert. Over the years he received many funny birthday and Father’s Day cards with photos of squirrels on them.

In June 2008 Fred’s house on Gilchrist was destroyed in a fire when the water heat exploded from gasoline vapors. This fire made front page news in The Eagle. Interviewed neighbors described Fred as the Mayor of Gilchrist because he had lived there the longest.

Fred and Vivian moved to Allen, north of Dallas, to be close to their son, Steven, and daughter-in-law, Maureen. Living in Allen, Fred could also visit Steven’s best friend, Don Mason, and his wife Patricia. Fred also enjoyed visits with Steven and Maureen’s close friends, the David and Tammy Sudduth family, and Maureen’s family members when they visited from out of state.

Fred, on the morning of August 24, 2016, we know your son Steven greeted you in heaven but we will miss you sneaking up to tickle the back of our necks. We will miss hearing you ask “Are you hitting on all 4 cylinders.” And we will miss seeing your Aggie Maroon Walker with the “Aggie #1 Fan” license plate.

Funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 27 at Memorial Funeral Chapel in College Station. Visitation will be one hour prior to service time at the funeral home. Private burial will be held at Rest-Ever Memorial Park Cemetery