Frederic Wardenburg III ’27

Frederic Wardenburg III died Aug. 10, 1997, at a nursing home in Scottsdale, Ariz., of respiratory problems. Fred came to us from Friends School, played freshman soccer, majored in electrical engineering, earned a Phi Beta Kappa key, and was a member of Gateway Club.

After graduation, he worked for du Pont and the Remington Arms Co. At the instigation of the head of the Manhattan Project, he was made a colonel in the Army in 1944, and became a member of Aslos, the group assigned the job of capturing German scientists and discovering their knowledge of atomic weapons. He was delighted--yelling out loud--to discover that one of them, Otto Hahn, had found the basic principles of nuclear fusion. Fred was given the U.S. Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, and made an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire.

After WWII, he reopened du Pont's London office and later returned to Wilmington as du Pont's director of employee relations. He was president of the Wilmington Music School and a member of the Delaware Civic Commission. He retired in 1965.

Fred married Martha Bigelow in 1928; they had two children, Sylvia Crouter and Fred IV '58, who survive him, along with seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Martha's address is 7100 E. Mescal St., Scottsdale, AZ 85254; 602-951-7362. We thank Fred IV for providing information for this memorial. To his family, the class sends its sympathy for the loss of a distinguished graduate.

The Class of 1927