Fred W. Kretschmann, 84 years old, resided in Lewes, DE. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by family on Wednesday, October 4, 2017.

Fred was born in Jamaica, New York on November 14th, 1932. He was a 1st generation US Citizen from German parents, Friedrich and Kathe (Bohn) Kretschmann. He was in the army during the Korean Conflict doing radio repair in Germany. After serving in the army, he attended Farmingdale Technical College where he received an Applied Science Associate degree for refrigeration, heating and air conditioning. After college, he met and married Meryl Martin on October 10, 1959, at Calvary Lutheran Church, East Meadow, NY. His specialty was working on research laboratory cooling systems for universities and hospitals. He transitioned to help run a family pet supply business, Kennel Vet, alongside his brother Henry and sister-in-law Marie. This gave him an opportunity to passionately mentor multiple high school and college age staff to develop their leadership skills as they were starting out their lives.

Fred was well-known for his bigger than life humor and friendliness. No one was a stranger since he could get most anyone to laugh at his jokes. His love for animals shown by his life-long love of raising and training chickens, cats and fish.

He was proceeded in death by wife of 51 years, Meryl (Martin) Kretschmann, his brother, Henry and sister Patsy.

He is lovingly remembered by his devoted children and their spouses, Dale and Tony Beyer, Nancy and Edward Kietlinski and his 5 grandchildren, Katelyn, Patrick, Kimberly, Anya, Nicolaus and great granddaughter, Mackenzie. A memorial service will be held at 2pm ET, Friday, October 13th, 2017 at Christ Lutheran Church, 315 N. Shipley Street, Seaford, DE 19973 followed by fellowship in the church hall.

The family requests in lieu of flowers to make a gift in support of Fred’s favorite charities; the World Wildlife Fund, Christ Lutheran Church, Sloan Kettering and Meals on Wheels.

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