1909

The class o£ 'O9 has just lost in the death of Freddie Carroll one of its most outstanding members and one of the most lovable characters in the Dartmouth fraternity.

Freddie has been serving as American Red Cross Commissioner for Great Britain and Western Europe on a leave of absense as VicePresident and Trust Officer of the National Shawmut Bank of Boston. He was killed instantly in an automobile accident thirty miles north of Paris on October 16, 1945. The details of the accident are not known at this writing. I have been privileged to read his letters which he has sent home since his arrival in Europe and he has been doing a perfectly immense amount of traveling fulfilling his duties. Most of his traveling has been by plane and the irony of the situation is that he had warned Bill Cunningham about flying, that he was going to try to play safe and travel, as much as possible, by automobile.

Fred had led an Horatio Alger life in that he had worked his way up from the practice of law in Worcester to be the attorney for the American Steel and Wire Company, the General Attorney for the Liberty Mutual and Vice-President and Trust Officer at the Shaw mut Bank and later the honored position of Red Cross Commissioner for Great Britain and Western Europe. In spite of all the honors he had attained he never lost his love for the class and Dartmouth and was always willing to bear more than his share of work necessary to keep the class going. He was a friend to anyone who came to him whether it be for advice or money. No one will ever know how much money he has put out helping Dartmouth men and, particularly, Dartmouth '09 men; this all done in an unpretentious manner and unknown to anyone. As I have not the facile pen of Bill Cunningham I am going to quote a few of his paragraphs regarding him:

Carroll, warm-hearted and generous, but a quiet man here, quickly proved himself to be the big man a big job called for over there. Not the least of the tragedy in this sudden stroke of fate is the fact that this fine man was due to come home to a place of prominence and leadership magnificently merited. Perhaps the finest pronouncement that could be made upon his character is this simple statement of the simple truth: Such was his humility that he didn't even know it

I keep thinking of how he talked about Mrs. Carroll sometimes as if she were in the next room, again as if she were a sweetheart left in the home town and his principal reason for wanting to hurry back to it. I remember how, when we shared a suite in the London Ritz, I saw him down on his knees at the side of his bed, praying for Bob on that submarine in the Pacific, and of how he told me he did it every night of his life. That hits me harder now because somebody told me yesterday that Bob, the fine looking young Navy Lieutenant, got home safe and sound only last week and was waiting for his dad

I can't say Goodbye to the man even in print. I learned that you open your heart to a friend when you're far away and lonesome and I can say I know I'll never see inside another that was finer, cleaner, truer to his God, his country, his responsibility, his family and his friends. Whereever he's gone, I hope there, some day, to be

Without fear of contradiction I think I can say that Bill Cunningham has expressed the feeling of every member of the class of '09.

Secretary, Wra. Filene's Sons Cos. 426 Washington St., Boston, Mass. Treasurer, 16 Wall St., New York, N. Y.