HUDSON FALLS – Frederick O’Hare, 91, of Hudson Falls, passed away Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016, at home.
He was born on January 5, 1925, to George O’Hare and Hazel (Shaw) O’Hare, at home in Lake Luzerne, New York.
A 1942 graduate of the Hadley-Luzerne Central School system, Fred lettered in baseball, basketball and soccer. In the fall of 1941, the coaches of the Saratoga County League selected him for the position of right halfback on the All-County Star soccer team.
Fred entered the U.S. Navy in April 1943 and received his bootcamp training at Samson Naval Training Station on the shores of Seneca Lake, New York. He was assigned to gunner’s mate school in Newport, Rhode Island, and graduated as a Petty Officer 3rd Class. He served in combat aboard the U.S.S. Melville in the Atlantic Fleet, departing in February 1944 for the European Theater and not returning to the U.S. until July of 1945.
Fred experienced several close calls during World War II, including surviving being stranded in the open ocean during a battle. He was discharged in May 1946.
Postwar, he studied diesel engineering in New York City and worked in various jobs (mostly in sales) in the Glens Falls area, including at Parson’s Ford, Ehrlich’s Auto Parts, Prudential Insurance, Albany Hardware, Tri-County Auto Parts (as an auto-parts wholesaler) and R&M Supplies. He then moved into sporting goods, working at the Joy Store in South Glens Falls, as manager of the sporting-goods department and buyer.
After retiring from Joy, he moved onto Sears, where he enjoyed an eventual second retirement.
In 1955, he married Alice Mary Demers, of Saranac Lake, New York, who had also worked at Parson’s Ford. They lived in the Glens Falls area until 1961, when they moved to Hudson Falls. Both lived in the same home for the rest of their lives (Alice died in 2011, at the age of 83), where they raised their four children.
A devoted husband and father, Fred enjoyed working in his shop at home, attending auto races with his sons, hunting, fishing, crossword puzzles (an enthusiasm he shared with his wife) and World War II history. He was very active in the VFW in Hudson Falls, and traveled to many reunions of his U.S.S. Melville shipmates.
He also operated his own snowblower well into his 80s.
Along with his wife, Fred is predeceased by his parents, his sister, Gertrude O’Hare, and his brother, George O’Hare.
Surviving Fred are sons Timothy, James and Frederick, who all live in the Hudson Falls/Glens Falls area, and a daughter, Kathleen, who lives in Los Angeles, along with a niece, nephews, great-nieces and -nephews, step-grandchildren and a grandson.
Friends may call from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, from 4-6 p.m. at the Carleton Funeral Home, Inc. at 68 Main Street, Hudson Falls American Legion Post 574 of Hudson Falls will provide honor guard and conduct a service at 6 p.m., following the calling hours.
Interment, with his wife Alice, will take place at a later date the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Veteran’s Cemetery in the town of Stillwater.
In remembrance of Fred, his family suggests donations in his honor to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society at 875 N. Randolph Street, Suite 225, Arlington, Virginia, 22203, or at www.nmcrs.org/.
