Frederick E. Pearce passed away Thursday, March 11, about two weeks shy of his 55th birthday. Fred put up a good fight against cancer and kidney disease, summoning his deep Irish roots to give him strength to make it through to another day. In the en...
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Frederick E. Pearce passed away Thursday, March 11, about two weeks shy of his 55th birthday. Fred put up a good fight against cancer and kidney disease, summoning his deep Irish roots to give him strength to make it through to another day. In the end, his strong will was outmatched by his illness.
Those who knew Fred knew him to be a kind and compassionate man. He could always be counted on to help people in need. He learned life’s lessons from his parents, Jack David Pearce and Margaret D. Pearce, both deceased.
Fred was a caring brother to his two sisters, Mary Jernigan and Theresa Beaman. He was the perfect partner to his fiancé Susanne Weeks, the love of his life. They spent 15 blissful years together, and when she became a grandmother to her grandson Caiden, Fred became his “Opa.”
You could find Fred and Susanne most Tuesday evenings at a local Norfolk restaurant, enjoying the tacos and each other’s company. Fred loved his Mexican food. He could eat it every day, if you let him. He also loved to cook, and he was quite the chef. No recipe was too challenging for Fred. He’d hunt all over Norfolk or Virginia Beach for the right ingredients, then he’d cook them up into a meal that was absolutely delicious.
Fred loved kayaking, he enjoyed martial arts and riding his bicycle, and he was a devoted Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
Fred worked for more than 30 years at Todd Marine Electrical. His knowledge of the shipboard repair industry was vast, especially when it came to panels and transformers. Customers came to know and trust Fred because of his professionalism, but also because he spent time “shooting the bull” with them, as he would say. His boss Norman summed it up in the out of office reply he left on Fred’s work phone: “We not only lost a co-worker,” he said, “but, more importantly, a brother and a friend.”
Fred was predeceased by his parents and his brother-in-law Paul. He is survived by his fiancé, Susanne, her son Stefan and her grandson Caiden; his sister Mary, brother-in-law David, and niece Allison; his sister Theresa and nephew Paul Joseph, niece Jennifer Tinsley with Jaycen and Jaxson. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society or the Salvation Army.
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