Emil Edwards Friberg Sr.

Emil Edwards Friberg, Sr, 83, went to be with the Lord on April 28, 2018. Emil, the son of Walter Friberg and Anne Crumpton Edwards, was born on April 11, 1935 in Wichita Falls, where he grew up and where his father worked as an attorney and 89th District Judge. His mother was active in the First Baptist Church and the International Friends Program of the Women’s Missionary Union. He graduated from Wichita Falls Senior High School in 1953 and attended the University of Texas in Austin from 1953-1958. As a Longhorn, Emil was active in the Delta Upsilon fraternity, Silver Spurs, UT Senior Cabinet, Student Engineering Council (Chairman) and was Cactus Outstanding Student. It was there he met Jo Ann Rutta of Columbus on a blind date; they were married on Jan. 26, 1957, in Columbus. After graduation and marriage, he never moved away from his beloved Texas, residing briefly in Austin, La Porte and Mineral Wells, moving to Wichita Falls in 1958, Fort Worth in 1964 and Arlington in 1972.

With a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Emil served in the Army ROTC and left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with a rank of first lieutenant. He worked for Texas Electric Service Company in Wichita Falls and Fort Worth, where he was honored by the Fort Worth chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) as Distinguished Young Engineer of the Year (1968). Joining the consulting engineering practice of Cowan, Love and Jackson in 1969 as a partner, he rose to lead the company for over 40 years as it transitioned to Friberg Associates Inc. and most recently to FAI Engineers, Inc. Active in engineering societies, he was: Life Member of TSPE (served twice as president), National Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Society of Petroleum Engineers; President of the Consulting Engineers Council of Texas; Engineer of the Year, TSPE Fort Worth chapter, 1992; and Distinguished 50-Year Member Awardee, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), 2017.

Emil was a loving husband, a devoted father, and a lifelong outdoorsman, instilling a passion for the natural world in his children and grandchildren, including boat racing, canoeing, camping, bird hunting, skeet shooting and sporting clays. As organizer of Dove Hunting Opening Day for the Fort Worth Club’s Outdoor Sports Club, he never missed it, even taking leave from the nursing home to participate. He received the O. Roy Stevenson Award for perfect attendance from the Rotary Club of Fort Worth. He was also a member of Fielder Road Baptist Church, Arlington Sportsman’s Club, The Fort Worth Club, Texas Rifle Association, National Rifle Association, and the University of Texas Ex-Students Association.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife. He is survived by: Sister Annette Haynie of Seattle, Washington; children Emil E. Friberg Jr. and his wife Marsha Johnston of Arlington, Va.; Vicki Lee and her husband, Andrew, of Duncanville; and Joe Friberg and his wife, Tammie, of Arlington; grandchildren Patrick Friberg, Adam Friberg and Mattie Friberg of Washington D.C., Jeremy Lee and Josiah Lee of Duncanville, and Joel Friberg, Michael Friberg and Jessica Friberg of Arlington; nieces Elizabeth Duff of Richmond and Alexandra Gillen of San Mateo, Calif.; and nephew Alan Haynie of Seattle, Washington.