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Comment by Tiger Schmittendorf on October 26, 2007 at 10:27am

Thanks for your comment.

I helped coordinate the Freidhoff funeral yesterday and it went off flawlessly. It was simple, fitting, tasteful and appropriate to everything that John was.

There were so many agencies and facets of John's life represented amongst the crowd of 350+ that filled the church. Everyone I spoke to agreed that while we all knew John in some way, it became apparent that we only really knew a sliver of the total man that he was.

I envy him for his successes in balancing everything that he did in his life, always prioritizing and keeping God and his family first amongst all the varied activities he was involved in.

Many people have a lot of time but few have the energy to make such use of it that John did. He will be missed by a lot of people in a lot of ways and I was proud to be a small part of his tribute yesterday and an even smaller part of his life.

One, of the toughest moments of the day were when his 10-year old son Joseph John went up on the altar to accept the Coast Guard Coin from a CG Commander.

The Commander leaned down and handed the coin to the boy, telling him that it was the same coin that his father had received for his dedicated service and that the Coast Guard wanted him to have one too, so that John's tradition of service to his country and community would be carried on from generation to generation.

The second moment was outside the church during the traditional flag folding and presentation ceremony. With his mother's hand draped over his left shoulder, Joseph John stood and saluted right along with the 100+ military, law enforcement and fire personnel that were standing in formation outside.

I would be lying if I didn't tell you that it was eerily reminiscent of the photo of John F. Kennedy Jr. at his father's funeral 44 years ago. The boy never wavered during the entire ceremony and you could see that his pride in his father, and his father's pride in him, was beaming forth.

There is no doubt in my mind that John was able to instill the right values in his son in the 10 short years they were together and that Joseph John will carry on his father's sole and unselfish mission of serving others.

Please keep Vicky and her four children in your prayers as they struggle with John's loss in the weeks and months to come.

Comment by Firegal77 on October 23, 2007 at 11:37am

It is always sad when we lose one of our own, and the loss of another "good one" impacts us all. It is eased a bit knowing that they lived their life doing what they loved and what they were passionate about. My heart goes out to all the friends and family for the loss....~W