A Memorial for Fred Humphrey

Today we sang in a small choir at yet another memorial service, this one in honor of Fred G. Humphrey, 95 years old, a long-time resident of Guilford part-time, and full-time since about 1991 at the time of his retirement, and for the past three years, a resident of Bradley House. I knew Fred primarily because he was President of the Guilford Historical Society when I was researching my history of the Guilford Community Church back in the 1990's. The service today was held at the West Village Meeting House, which is home to the local Unitarian-Universalist congregation. The service was planned and led by his children, and they had asked the Guilford Community Church to provide a choir and accompanist, not because Fred was a member of our congregation, but because we are the only active church in the town of Guilford. Fred's son, Alan, explained that if they had had their druthers, they would have held the service in the old historic Universalist Church in Guilford Center, (known today as the Guilford Center Meeting House), but for reasons he did not explain, that building was not available. It is rarely used, and that may have been the problem. As President of the Historical Society, Fred had had a great deal of involvement in acquiring that building for the Society and restoring it, so it would have been the ideal location for his memorial service. However, his background was in the Unitarian Church, so West Village Meeting House was appropriate too. Fred himself was raised on a dairy farm in Western Connecticut, but his own work was as a professor of Child Development and Family Relations at the University of Connecticut, a position he held 25 years, and also as a marriage counselor. People emphasized that he was "a doer" - he took ideas and ran with them and got the job done. Our choir sang three songs - all chosen by the family: Turn, Turn, Turn and To My Old Brown Earth, both by Pete Seegar, and This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie. Patty Mayer, our Guilford organist, led us and accompanied us on the piano. I think we gave a respectable rendition of these songs. I regret to say I forgot to bring my phone, so I have no "live" photos, but here are some I have found.

Fred G. Humphrey (1926-2022).

The Guilford Center Meeting House, which Fred Humphrey helped preserve

West Village Meeting House - where the service was held today (photo by Paul Carnahan, when he was in high school). ******************************* After the service we got ice cream at Chelsea Royal Diner, picked up a book we are being loaned - a book about Henri Nouwen titled Flying, Falling, Catching which we are reading for a Guilford Church Book Study Group; took a walk. out of Dummerston Center for about a half-hour, and came home for supper.