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Frederick Lander
Memorial Candle Tribute From
O'Brien Funeral Home
"We are honored to provide this Book of Memories to the family."
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Robert Montgomery

Fritz and I became friends in about the 5th grade. We did a lot of exploring of life in those subsequent years - reminiscent of the TV show about that era, “The Wonder Years.” Countless hours on the phone; talking about girls and sports. Fritz was a natural athlete and soon was prominent in neighbourhood football and hockey - just about every endeavour he engaged in, he did it well. As we entered high school we worked a nighttime janitorial job together at an office building in Radnor. Fritz was always embrued with a keen sense of humour and so even doing something as mind-numbing as taking out the trash and vacuuming the offices was fun with him. Summers were spent at the Lander home in the pool. Our paths diverged a bit when I went to boarding school, albeit in the same town and two years later my family moved to Connecticut. Our get-togethers were less frequent then but we always picked up our relationship as though no time had passed. After graduation our paths diverged further when I joined the Marine Corps for three years and then crossed again in 1981 the year I got out of the service. On my way home, one of my first stops was at the Lander home in Wayne and once again we picked up where we left off. The following summer Fritz and I worked as landscapers together and while the work wasn’t particularly engaging, the days were filled with laughter and horsing around at the job sites (while still getting the job done because in addition to being utterly professional Fritz was absolutely reliable - the perfect employee and the ideal boss - traits that he no doubt carried with him through life.) He made a couple of visits to Connecticut when I was at CT College - and then something happened that would change the course of his life forever in a most meaningful manner. He met Kim. A relationship that was always meant to be. Together they forged a life and had two beautiful girls who are now grown women. A former boss once told me that the mark of success in one’s life was not what he/she accomplished in the work place; rather, it was measured in how your children turned out. In this respect, Fritz was a phenomenal success. Our lives diverged significantly from the mid-1980s. My professional life took me out of the continental United States for most of the past 30 years. We probably only saw each other less than a dozen times since then. But as throughout the years, each reunion felt as though no time had passed with only greying hair and less tolerance for drinks betraying the time and distance passed. The last time I saw Fritz was around the winter of 2014. He had business that brought him down into my neck of Virginia and he was able to visit the house one evening. We caught up on old times, life and family events - it was a great evening. As always, although our lives had diverged greatly the bond of our original friendship was there. It was always there. Goodbye my brother. We had a lot of “firsts” together as we traversed life - especially in those early “wonder” years. You were a man of integrity, a model Dad, husband, neighbour and member of society. You left too early but I'm glad your transition was a peaceful one. You touched all of us in ways you will never know. Thank you.
Tuesday November 14, 2017 at 7:25 pm
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