Richard A. Fredrickson, Sr

Richard A. Fredrickson, Sr, 77, of Viroqua died Monday, April 18, 2011. Richard Allen Fredrickson Sr., 77 of Viroqua, passed away on Monday, April 18, 2011 at his home surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with cancer that was diagnosed in 2006. He was born on the family farm on Nottingham Ridge on November 20, 1933 to Alfred (Babe) and Hannah (Thurin) Fredrickson. He was baptized at Zion Lutheran church on February 18, 1934. He completed school and received a certificate from Nottingham school on June 4, 1948. He received his honorable discharge from the armed forces on February 28, 1961 after serving 8 years. He was united in marriage to Frances Skjolden with whom he had 6 children before they later divorced: Vicki, Rita (Kluever), Cheryl (Terry), Jeannie (Mike) Henry, Laurie (Ray) Rynes and Richard "Rick" Fredrickson Jr. On August 16, 1980 Richard married Jeanne Terwilliger Zeman. They made their home on Sidie Hollow Rd. They homesteaded their land being bare with nothing on it, water, sewer or electric. Through the years and a lot of hard work they made it almost picture perfect. There was always a project going on with family and friends helping hands. Through the years Richard had many jobs. Jack of all trades they say, he never had a desk job, he was an outdoors person. His first job was hauling canned milk, owning his own route. His other jobs included working at a couple of service stations, working with Blaine Welch at Kellogg Electric, driving the #7 school bus on the Nottingham Ridge route for many years, cutting trees with Don Kyser for over 30 years. He also drove a bulk truck with petroleum products to farmers and homes, Vernon Coop, Dan Jacobson Mobil and Broadbent Mobil out of Richland Center. After retirement he was the caretaker at Sidie Hollow Campground for some years. He was a part time bartender for the eagles club, mostly weekends and for the cancer telethon. When Richard retired he delivered Kerosene to the Amish families, he just loved to see the children run up to the truck for a sucker or some other treat. He also started driving semi for Armand Bringe and sometimes Craig Forde. He hauled shell corn or beans to Prairie du Chien, sometimes up to 3 loads a day, quite a feat to accomplish. He loved all of his jobs. Richards biggest interests were stock car racing, deer hunting and NASCAR. He enjoyed fishing and camping but never had enough time for that. He was really involved in the stock car racing, owning his own car. He raced many dirt tracks in the surrounding area. He was really proud of that and worked hard on his car to get to those races. He had a lot of other interests too, he enjoyed going for rides through the valley looking for deer with his wife Jeanne and his dog Cuddles. He also loved playing cards being with friends and family and just being with people and enjoying life. Deer hunting was his main attraction. The "gang" would sit around the table the night before and plan their strategy to get that big one, but he was always satisfied with a big doe if he was lucky. Loved to hunt mushrooms, hed always come home with his hat full and whatever he could find to put them in; they became a little bit harder to find in recent years. He wasnt a big traveler; he did manage to go elk hunting in Colorado, bagging a prize elk. Hes also seen Las Vegas, Montana and Nashville in his motor home but he enjoyed being home the most. He was a local guy. He loved his children, grandchildren and finally great-grandchildren. "Nobody hurts my kids," hed say. He loved people and liked having parties in his yard by the fire pit and had many cookouts there. He wasnt the cook but hed make sure everyone was having a good time. In addition to his wife Jeanne and his children, he is survived by grandchildren Jeremy Fredrickson, Nichole Henry, Joshua Clark, Andrea Clark, Brandon Henry, Keagan Erickson, Tyler Henry, Hayden Fredrickson, Shanay Erickson, Megan Abel, Mitchel Abel; great grandchildren Addison, Audrey, and Lily Clark; and brothers Ron (LuAnn) Fredrickson and Jerry (Betty) Fredrickson. He is preceded in death by his parents; sister Leanne Fredrickson; brother Wayne "Sonny" Fredrickson; grandson Cory Henry; stepchildren R.J. Zeman and Shannon (Zeman) Abel. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 at the Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home, 123 W. Decker St (hwy 56) in Viroqua. Reverend Dr. Steven Fossum will officiate with burial to follow. Friends may call on Wednesday from 12 p.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home. The Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home of Viroqua is serving the family.