If not, you may want to.

Up until a month ago, Fred was an obscure Richmonder.  He had some friends, a couple of sons, was married for 37 years, and then fate caught up with him and he died in an auto accident.  Not the stuff fame is made of, right?

Normally that would be true.  But Fred had a sense of humor on him.  One that even death could not stop!  For you See Fred wrote his own Obituary.  And it was published in the local rag.  It begins:

Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other's courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle as a result of an automobile accident on June 18, 2006. True to Fred's personal style, his final hours were spent joking with medical personnel while he whimpered, cussed, begged for narcotics and bargained with God to look over his wife and kids. He loved his family. His heart beat faster when his wife of 37 years Alice Rennie Clark entered the room and saddened a little when she left. His legacy was the good works performed by his sons, Frederic Arthur Clark III and Andrew Douglas Clark MD, PhD., along with Andy's wife, Sara Morgan Clark.

And it gets better!  So much so that this obituary, published in the paper, was also published on the web site.  And in less than a month, over 500 people from around the world have read his obit AND left an entry in his guest book: http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonID=18382676

A Local radio station even had his son, Fred III on the show a couple of weeks back and talked to him about his father (The son is not like the father - humor wise).  But now, due to the Internet, a simple man's sense of humor, and the miracle of links, all of you can get to know Fred.

And while I never knew Fred in Life, I am damn proud to call him a fellow Richmonder (the area), and proud that he did a lot to help with the image of this city/area!

Fred?  This Virginia wine (NOT FRENCH) is on me!  Cheers!