Fred Charles King

Fred was born in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 4th, 1927, the son of Glen Woodson King and Glenna E Osborne. He grew up in Bergoo, a lumber mill town on the Elk River in Webster County, West Virginia, where his father was a machinist. His recollections of life in Webster County were a perpetual delight to family and friends.

After graduation from Webster Springs High School in 1944, Fred attended the University of Kentucky, where he excelled in Chemistry and Physics. After serving in the U.S. Army in Germany at the end of WWII, Fred entered West Virginia University, where he received a degree in mechanical engineering with honors in 1951. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Fred worked for General Electric in Cincinnati, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Erie, Pennsylvania and Schenectady, New York, specializing in large steam turbine power generation.

Deciding to follow a second profession, Fred entered Harvard Law School, where he obtained his law degree in 1972. From that time until his retirement in 1999, he served as a tax attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. He lived in Ann Arbor with his first wife, Mary Budinger King, and four children: Susan Lynn (Ronald Carpenter), Charles Glen (Margaret Maly), Catherine Mary (Scott Carr) and Jennifer Brandon (David St. Onge).

Mary King and Jennifer St. Onge preceded him in death. The other children have families in North Carolina and Virginia.

Fred’s second family, the Armstrongs, include Sandra Eleanor (Don Callard), Susan Lynn (Roland Bydlon) and Stephen Arthur (Lori Sella) and their children.

Fred’s grandchildren include Sara Carpenter Hayes, Will Carpenter, Tom Carpenter, Chandler King, Elizabeth King, Tim Bydlon, Kyle Bydlon, Danielle Armstrong, Shannon Armstrong, and Nathan Armstrong.

After retirement from Ford Motor Company, Fred worked part-time for the law firm of Stevenson Keppelman in Ann Arbor and continued to work with many longtime clients from his part-time practice in Brighton Michigan. He also received much joy from being an active Ann Arbor Kiwanian for many years.

A celebration of Fred’s life is planned for June 25th at 2:30 p.m. at Kiwanis West, 100 N. Staebler Rd., Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation (200 S. First St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104) or Arbor Hospice (http://www.arborhospice.org/foundation-donation).