Evelyn Frederick turns 100

ST. CLAIR SHORES — The St. Clair Shores City Council, state Sen. Kevin Hertel, family members and residents celebrated Evelyn Frederick’s 100th birthday with a proclamation at the council’s Feb. 18 meeting.

Evelyn turned 100 on Feb. 21.

Her son, Ronald Frederick, has fond memories of growing up with his mother. He said it was awesome.

“She was always there for us and definitely went to all of our sports games and band concerts,” Ronald said.

Evelyn helped out at their elementary school as well. She also helped Ronald’s father —   her husband, Caspar Frederick — on the campaign trail and beyond. Ronald helped, too, going door to door for his father, and called it his introduction to politics.

Ronald said it was a really good childhood.

Evelyn helped him by typing his papers, something she was good at due to her previous experience as an accountant.

“This was back before computers,” Ronald said. “This was when you had just a regular typewriter and if you made a mistake you had to go erase it or start over.”

Evelyn grew up before World War II and Ronald said she was around 4 years old when the Great Depression hit the nation and the rest of the world. He went on to say that though his grandparents sheltered her from the world events, they did go through rough times.

“They actually went up north in the summers, and I say summer, it was probably from like April to October or November, where they spent all that time near Petoskey and up there building the roads in Michigan,” Ronald said.

He said his grandfather, John Rostoni, and others cut through valleys and other natural landscapes to create the roads in northern Michigan. Evelyn helped her mother run boarding houses or a motel of sorts where employees who fixed the roads stayed. She helped prepare their meals and take care of household chores.

“It was a pretty crazy time growing up for her because of the times,” Ronald said.

Because of that, Evelyn changed elementary schools a lot.

“Many of which were one-room schoolhouses,” Ronald said. “And I can tell you when she got back and then went to the normal elementary school where their house was in Detroit, she was so far ahead of the other kids, that in some cases she ended up helping to tutor the other kids.”

Evelyn and her husband, according to Ronald, had a very strong relationship. His father was two years older than Evelyn and went into the Navy. They dated when he got out and frequently went roller skating dancing.

“They did a lot of stuff with their families,” Ronald said.

They also traveled a lot as Caspar was a part of the union and during his time as a city councilman, he attended meetings for various city councils. Ronald said he went on a few of these trips where he said his father made many friends.

“They did a lot together, they had a lot of friends,” Ronald said.

He said his mother made sure there was food on the table, took care of the household, worked and more. She also took care of Ronald’s father when he got sick before they got a daytime caregiver.

“At one point in time my dad and my grandfather were sick, so she was taking care of both of them,” Ronald said. “And then when my dad passed away, my grandfather moved in with her and she would help him, too.”

He remembered days spent at the cottage fishing on Lake St. Clair with his mother and his grandfather. He also spent weekends fishing with his father.

“Whatever we had we would cook for dinner,” Ronald said. “Perch or whatever.”

Ronald said one of the things he remembers his mother saying is “Don’t treat anybody other than how you would want them to treat you.”

“That sort of resonated with me,” Ronald said. “Treat everybody as a friend.”

He said he’s proud of everything she’s accomplished.

At the meeting, Evelyn was presented with a proclamation from the city of St. Clair Shores and a tribute signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II and Hertel.