Bob Frederick

A Remembrance Of A Friend

Bob Frederick was truly a man�s man. He was not an imposing person in size, but beneath that thin, muscular frame was one of the biggest men I�ve ever known. He was first and foremost a true family man. With his beautiful wife Arlene they raised four successful children. Although he was a dedicated Harvard trained physician, Bob made his family the centerpiece of his life. This is perhaps the truest measure of a real man.
As a rower, Bob rowed on the men�s lightweight eight at Georgetown University during the mid 60�s. Bob resumed his rowing again later in life on Lake Murray. He became one of the founding members of the Columbia Rowing Club. He headed the Safety Committee and formed the foundation of our safety program today.
Though Bob seemed to be a stoic, quiet man on the outside he was a surprisingly intense competitive rower on the inside. I was genuinely surprised when Bob had asked about buying my retired rowing partner�s share of our double racing shell. I had no idea he was that interested in competition. I don�t think there was any question in Bob�s mind who was going to stroke our boat and our first row there was no question in my mind either. Bob stroked. He was a 100 percent type guy. Every workout was an all out effort. Though I had mentioned it in the beginning a few times about Warming Up in the early row, Bob always left the dock at 30 strokes per minute. I know many will disagree about that, but after a while with Bob it just felt right.

Those evening workouts at 5:30 on the river were some of the most pleasant relaxing moments of my life. We have a truly beautiful river here in Columbia. After a long and perhaps difficult day at the office it was pure pleasure to meet my rowing partner and launch our boat. I somehow knew his day contained more stress and worry than mine, but all was left at the dock when we rowed.
A word was rarely spoken as we rowed down to the island. But once we stopped Bob always took time to appreciate the beauty of the river and the true blessing it was to be able to row there.
It was a beautiful evening on the 31^st of July 2000 when Bob and I finished our row. Though we were both exhausted Bob began commenting about how good it felt to be out on the water in the early evening. I asked Bob to steady the boat while I paddled us back to the dock. Bob seemed to slowly turn back toward me before falling forward and onto the rigger of our boat. This strong quiet man passed away far too early in life of a heart attack.

Bob will always be an example to me of a man�s man. He loved his family first. He had tremendous humility and great strength of character. He will always be a bigger man than I could ever hope to be.

Bob Frederick was my friend.

John Worrell