Ex-official Frederick dies on hunt

Ex-official Frederick dies on hunt

By KATHY ANN MOILANEN
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Sitting in a deer blind near home is the kind of place an outdoorsman might choose to spend his final moments. And it was there that former Ann Arbor Township Clerk Laurance Frederick died of a heart attack Tuesday. He was 65.

Earlier in the season, he had gotten a deer on a trip up north.

“That was one of his joys, so he was doing what he enjoyed,” says Jack Donaldson, director of the Ann Arbor building department, who knew Frederick for years. “He enjoyed life and enjoyed his work equally.”

Frederick retired from his job with the city of Ann Arbor in 1990, where he had been construction bureau supervisor and a building inspector.

Frederick spent many years as a dedicated and respected public servant who liked to stay busy, Donaldson said. For 23 years — at least some of them overlapping with his city job - Frederick was Ann Arbor Township clerk. He was a lifelong resident of the township, where he also served as a volunteer firefighter and was a carpenter and farmer.

In his free time, Frederick liked to hunt, fish and ride snowmobiles, said longtime neighbor Jane Duey, the township’s deputy clerk. Township Treasurer Virginia A. Forshee remembers him as a good family man who was like a buddy to his children.

Survivors include his wife, Margaret Ann Frederick (formerly Margaret Ann Gale), and three children: Bradley of Grand Rapids, Lauran “Larry” of Ada, and Susan of Ypsilanti. A memorial service will be conducted at Dixboro United Methodist Church, 5221 Church, where Frederick was a member, although the date and time have not been set. Arrangements are being handled by Muehlig Chapel.