Theodore Andrew Fredericks

AIKEN, SC -- Theodore A. Fredericks, 93, of Cutchogue, New York Theodore A. Fredericks died Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at his daughter’s residence in Aiken, SC. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 15, 1915. He moved to Springfield Gardens, Queens in 1951 and retired to Cutchogue, Long Island in 1978. His loving wife Clara Fredericks, to whom he was married for 67 years, predeceased him in death. His parents Anna Webber Fredericks and Casper Lewis Fredericks and his older brother Charles Fredericks also predeceased him. His loving daughter Dr. Carol M. Fredericks Jantzen and his extended family Dr. John B. Pickett and Margaret Pickett-O’Neill and family survive him. Ted grew up in Brooklyn, NY where he attended Public School 68. He worked for his father’ moving company, C. Fredericks & Sons, until he married in 1939. He held several interim jobs and in 1948 Ted took an evening class in mineralogy at Brooklyn College. This class turned out to be a major career-defining paradigm. In 1949 Ted began a part-time business-collecting mineral and rock specimens and supplying universities throughout the country with educational materials, mostly geology “kits,” for chemistry, physics, and earth science classes. This grew to a full time job as a major supplier to universities, colleges, high schools, and junior high schools throughout the country. The educational kits were marketed by the various companies he founded (U.S. Mineral Exploration Corp. 1948-1950; A&T Mineral Services 1950-1961; Cooper Brothers 1961-1970; Atlantic Mineral Corp. 1970-1975, and Fredericks-Stevens Mineral Corp. 1975-1978). The educational materials were also supplied to universities such as Yale, Adelphi, and Hofstra and to the American Museum of Natural History, the Hayden Planetarium, and the Peabody Museum. Ted also supplied (1) semi-precious stones for art students, (2) semi-precious stones for making costume jewelry, (3) ores used in making colorful glazes for ceramics and ceramic tiles, (4) uranium bearing ores to research laboratories for experimental work, and (5) semi-precious stones he tumbled and polished (ten thousand pounds at a time) that were used by Mobil Oil Company for overseas (England, Norway, Belgium, France, Holland, and Germany) promotional premiums. In addition, Ted consulted and investigated mine claims in the United States and Mexico for over 40 years. Ted was inducted into the National Rockhound and Lapidary Hall of Fame in Murdo, South Dakota in 1998 for special recognition in the field of geology education. Ted taught Adult Education classes in the identification of minerals and general geology in East Meadow and Oyster Bay from 1961 to 1978. From 1989-1993 he taught an evening class entitled “Mineral Identification” for all age groups at the Southold Custer Institute. Ted had an iditic memory with respect to minerals. Not only could he identify minerals by eye but he could also tell a collector the exact locality of where the mineral had come from. Ted founded the Long Island Mineral and Geological Society (LIMAGS) in 1980 and initiated the annual summer LIMAGS Gem and Mineral Show, which is, still an annual summer event in the Southold-Mattituck region. At Ted’s suggestion, profits from the annual shows were filtered back into the community paying for busloads of Junior High School students from Long Island to visit the Museum of Natural History in New York City. Since 1990 the profits from the annual shows have been used to sponsor a Science Scholarship for a graduate of Mattituck High School. During the 1990’s and into the early 2000’s Ted presented the Scholarship to the winner at the High School graduation ceremonies. Ted will be missed by his family and friends, members of LIMAGS, and his Aiken caregivers Mary Arthur Packer, Sharon Williams, and Bernestein Johnson and his physical therapists Leanna Steadman and Micah Brewer. The family will receive friends at the Shellhouse Funeral Home, Hayne Ave., Aiken, from 12 to 3PM, on July 11, 2009. The Rev. John Arthur of the Eureka First Baptist Church in Eureka, SC will preside over a funeral service immediately following the visitation. Burial will be in New York. The family will receive friends at Coster-Hepper Funeral Home, 32470 Main Road (next to the Old Burial Grounds) in Cutchogue, New York on July 15, 2009 from 2-8PM. The visitation will include a memorial to Clara Fredericks who passed away two years ago on July 9, 2007. The Rev. John Arthur of the Eureka First Baptist Church in Eureka, SC will preside over a funeral service immediately following the visitation at 8PM. Internment will follow at Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York with the Rev. John Arthur presiding on July 16, 2009 and 1PM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Eureka First Baptist Church, 186 Johnston Highway, Trenton, SC 29847, to the Long Island Mineral and Geology Society (LIMAGS), P.O. Box 320, Mattituck, NY 11952, to Custer Institute and Observatory, 1115 Main Bayview Road, P.O. Box 1204, Southold, New York 11971, or to the Southold Indian Museum at 1080 Main Bayview Road, P.O. Box 268, Southold, NY 11971. The Southold Indian Museum is associated with the NY State Archeological Association. Donations to LIMAGS will be used for community supported science outreach programs such as the scholarships, mineral presentations, and student field trips. Shellhouse Funeral Home, Inc., 924 Hayne Ave., Aiken, SC To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Theodore Andrew Fredericks, please visit our flower store.