He was born in New York City and came to Princeton from the Choate School. He was a member of Cloister Inn and majored in electrical engineering.
After graduating, Fred went to work for Alcoa, but volunteered for military service in the summer of 1954 and spent two years with the Signal Corps, mostly in Arizona and Louisiana, before being discharged as a Spc. 3rd class. He then took an eight-week course in business finance at Temple University and went to work for U.S. Radium Corp. as a development engineer. In 1970 Fred and his partners founded Scientific Venture Consultants to work with “young aggressive companies” in areas ranging from mergers and acquisitions to recruiting, evaluations and basic planning, and assistance. That work led in turn to the creation of F.E. Crispin and Associates, again doing consulting work of various kinds. Fred and Louise retired to Newtown Square in 2009.
Fred was predeceased by his daughter, Cynthia. He is survived by his wife, Louise; their son, Frederick III; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.