Obituary of Frederick Leroy Staiger

Frederick Leroy Staiger, “Fred,” passed away in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Friday, September 6, 2024.  He was 98 years old and just two weeks short of his 99th birthday.  He was born on September 20, 1925, to Minna Julia Wiemers and George Staiger at home in Leyden, MA.

Fred was pre-deceased by his wife Louise of 57 years, in 2005.  He is survived by four daughters he and Louise had together:  Lois Ann Staiger Barbour, Bonnie Leigh Staiger, Rebecca Louise Staiger Bachelder, and Jacqueline Emerson Staiger Dannenberg; 7 grandchildren including Andrew Barbour, Emily Barbour Crouch, and Sarah Barbour, Alex and Zachary Gill, Charles Bachelder and Hannah Marrcarr, and 7 great grandchildren.  He had three siblings who pre-deceased him: his brother Carl Richardson, his brother John Staiger, and his sister Charlotte Louise Staiger Dunbar.

Fred grew up in Leyden MA, on the family dairy farm.  He graduated from Greenfield High School in 1944 and continued to work on the farm.  He also took over his father’s Star Mail route after his death.  Fred married J. Louise Marr, from Duxbury, MA, after a short courtship, in Leyden on October 23, 1948.  He often told the story of how he met Louise at the mailbox in Leyden where she was visiting her father’s cousins after she graduated from high school.  Fred was immediately smitten.  After a one-month courtship, they were engaged and then married two months later. With a rascal’s smile, he would pause and say, “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have waited so long.”

A few years after their marriage, and after Lois and Bonnie were born, Fred sold the family dairy farm and went to work for the New England Breeding Association and went from farm to farm to artificially inseminate dairy cows.  After a few local moves, he and Louise moved to Rutland, MA where they completed their family with Becky and Jackie.  

The family moved to Kingston MA in 1960 when Louise was offered a management opportunity with Avon Cosmetics.  Fred pursued a number of sales jobs until he joined Baker Tractor in Swansea, MA, then New England Golf Car.  Fred became a top salesman of Yamaha golf car fleets to golf courses primarily in Southeastern MA and Cape Cod.  Fred was also a member of the Halifax Kiwanis Club.  

Louise and Fred lived in the same home for the remaining years of their lives.  Fred remodeled the home several times, adding bedrooms as the family grew, and enlarging the living areas to accommodate entertaining their growing family and friends for holidays and other get-togethers.  

Fred could do almost anything when it came to fixing engines and construction.  He meticulously cared for the lawns at his homes.  He mowed his own lawn right up until three years before he passed.  He also loved to put on clambakes, grill steaks, and make his famous Buffalo chicken wings and fries. From the bogs behind the house, he made dozens of containers of cranberry sauce that he shared with family and friends in Massachusetts and in Florida.

Fred and Louise took up skiing with their girls in the early 60s.  They bought a ski home and skied every possible weekend and school vacation until the girls all graduated from high school.  They also loved to travel and had trips to Europe, Japan, Alaska and ski trips to Colorado.  They travelled with their motor homes cross country and back and forth to Florida.

After retiring, Fred and Louise purchased a second home in Edgewater, Florida.  Fred finally took up golf after so many years spent at golf courses selling carts.  He and Louise made Florida their primary residence in retirement for the fall, winter, and spring months, returning to their Kingston home to be near family in the late spring, summer, and early fall months.  

Fred rarely sat still.  He was always involved with some project.  His family figured his non-stop activity is what made him so strong and contributed to his longevity.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Fred’s memory are welcome to Cranberry Hospice, 36 Cordage Park Circle, Suite 326, Plymouth, MA 02360.