Lothar "Bud" Fieg, eldest surviving sibling from the original Fieg family homestead in Oneonta, N.Y. and beloved family patriarch, died in Ste. Genevieve, MO on January 28, 2009 from complications of a lengthy illness. He was 89.
He was born August 22, 1919 in Oneonta to Lothar E. Fieg and Florence Shields Fieg, graduating from Oneonta High School in 1937. He received a degree in mine engineering from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, before embarking on a career that saw him rise to the position of superintendent at the Mississippi Lime Co. in Ste. Genevieve, where he supervised more than three hundred employees at the time of his retirement.
A number of his former mining colleagues recalled him as competent, fair and kind.
"Sometimes we thought he ought to crack the whip a little more, that he was too nice a guy," recalled retired mine foreman Roseman Tucker, who answered directly to the man known in the mine simply as "Red. "Of course, that wasn't a fault. It was a credit to him."
"Bud was a very brilliant person," said Col. Clifford R. "Roger" Silliman, (USAF Ret.), 88, of Lompoc, CA. "Learning came very easy to him."
Silliman recalled that he and his lifelong friend were partners in the operation of a modest, commercial bicycle shop when the two were teenagers in Oneonta. Though Bud had no formal training, he quickly grasped the dynamics of mechanics, teaching himself to dissemble and reassemble parts in the rebuilding of scrapped bicycles for resale.
"We got so we could respoke an entire wheel," said Silliman, who ran the shop out of the basement of his father's house.
Bud enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the outset of World War II, serving as a fighter pilot with the Eighth Air Force in England. Flying P-40 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs, he escorted U.S. bombers en route to Germany on perilous daylight bombing runs, and at one point was forced to parachute to safety after an engine he was testing burst into flames over England.
He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of captain.
He married Catherine Shafer of Oneonta and they raised five children in Ste. Genevieve. Catherine died in 1976.
In 1977 he married Rachel Dickson Taylor, who also preceded him in death. In retirement, they traveled the globe.
Bud served on the Ste. Genevieve R-II School Board, where he was a leading advocate of a controversial school construction bond issue in the 1970s. Lorraine Spang, a school teacher during that period, recalled him as unwavering in his support of school improvements, urging voters not to re-elect him if they could not also support new school financing.
"Lothar Fieg was an unpurchasable man," Spang said. "By that I mean he couldn't be bought. He was a man of very high integrity, and he lived his Christian values every day of his life.... He literally walked the way he talked."
Nephew Greg Fieg of San Antonio, TX called his uncle "a man of great charity and generosity."
He remembered that when his father, Bud's brother, Frank Fieg, fell on hard times as he tried to run the family business during the recession of the early 1960s, Bud was there to help without being asked.
"On more than one occassion, the Christmas card from Ste. Genevieve would arrive with a $50 bill in it," Fieg said. "And this was when $50 was truly a lot of money, and it came from a man who had more than his share of his own problems trying to support a wife and five children."
He volunteered tirelessly for various local Presbyterian endeavors, and was granted a life membership at the church, which he and Catherine joined in 1949. He served on the board.
Survivors include sisters Maxine (Robert) Whiteside of Sioux City, IA and Dorothy Roman of Bridgewater, NJ; four sons, Richard (Cindy) and Steven (Eleanor) of Ste. Genevieve, Russell (Heny) of Henderson, NV and Douglas (Cindy) of Soma, CA, a daughter, Susan (Ed) Williams, of Chicago and a sister-in-law Jean Davie Fieg.
He also leaves grandchildren Laura and Brian Fieg of Atlanta, GA, Tamra (Thomas) Bradford of Festus, MO, Brenna Furgason of Ste. Genevieve and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and by his brothers Victor Philip and Franklin and two sisters Emilie McGonigal and Florence Bookhout.
A wake will be held 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 2, at the Wood Family Funeral Home, 223 Market St, Ste Genevieve (Ph: 573-883-3555). The funeral services will follow at the funeral home.
After the procession to the cemetery there will be a pot luck type meal served by the Presbyterian Women's Club at the Presbyterian Church fellowship hall area.
Donations may be made in his memory to the Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, 160 S. Main St., Ste Genevieve, MO 63670. (ph: 573-883-3273). Flowers have not been requested by the family, but will be gratefully accepted from those who desire to send them. They can be ordered from Buy the Bunch/Rehm's Florist, 518 S 4th St., Ste Genevieve, MO (ph: 573-883-2109.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
If there ever was a man who was well liked by his friends, adored by his family and almost universally admired, it was Uncle Bud. He was, of course, merely a man like other men, but I would be tempted to think that he would have been pardoned by his detractors, but I seriously wonder whether he had any detractors.
Here is a comment from Robert H Powell [bluenoserbob2@juno.com], a buddy from WWII.
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009
We were so saddened when Stephen called to tell us that my good friend and fellow pilot, Lothar, had passed away. We knew he was not well, but did not realize his actual condition although Stephen had told me his kidneys were failing.
Lothar and I were bunk buddies,our bunks right next to each other in our Nissan hut at Bodney when we were flying together. I remember giving him a hard time about taking my plane up and having to bailout of it over England.
One of my fondest memories of him, and I tell this story to friends sometime, was when he was about to take 30 days R&R back in the States after completing his first combat tour. He had Catherine's picture setting up on his foot locker and he would wake up some mornings,look at it and say, "Good morning, Catherine! What's for breakfast??" Then, after a pause, he would say, "Oh, no, not powdered eggs again!"
Just before he was to come home he came to me and said, "Punchy, you seem to be pretty good with the gals and I want your advice. I am very fond of Catherine and I want to ask her to marry me while I am home, to get engaged. I have never kissed her or even held her hand, but I know I want to ask her to marry me. How should I handle this when I first see her??"
I knew Lothar was a little shy, so I told him, "When you first see her again she will probably put her hand out to you. Just ignore it. Just step forward past her
hand, take her in your arms and give her a big kiss. She will either slap you or respond to your
advance."
When he got back from the U.S. and we saw each other for the first time again, he said, very excitedly, "Punchy, it worked. I did just what you said and we are
engaged." Years later, I think in 1950, when I was recalled for the Korean War, Betty and I were traveling to the West Coast and we stopped off in Rifle, CO to visit Lothar and Catherine. It was very late by the time we got there, about midnight when we knocked on their door. They put us up for
the night and the next day Lothar took me down ino the mines where he
was working. I think they were doing experimental shale mining for the government to determine the cost of getting oil from the
shale. And, of course, we got to know Rachel at some of our reunions
after they wre married. He was very fortunate to have found two very fine ladies in his life.
We will surely miss him as we continued to contact each other
through the years. Please extend our sympathy to the family.
Thanks, and Blue Skies,
Punchy
I am so glad that Uncle Bud & Rachel came back east for the Shields reunion a few years ago and I got to see them one last time. Uncle Bud was wearing his famous jump suit. That's how I'll always remember him.
My love to Sue, Steven, Richard, Doug and their families.
Two years ago Uncle Bud and Aunt Rachel drove to the Indianapolis area to surprise our mother for her 80th birthday. For one of the rare times all of our Whiteside family was together, and it was so special for Uncle Bud and Aunt Rachel to be there to help us celebrate.
Our mom and Uncle Bud couldn't get enough of each other, talking about the old days and catching up with the family news. It was wonderful.
We are still talking about it and how much we appreciated their efforts to drive there to be with us. A truly memorable event for our family.
Our Uncle Bud was a true gentleman. I think that says it best.
The service is over. It was great to have Greg there, as well as a fantasic turnout from the city.
Post a Comment