Fredric Freese Passed Away

Pastor Fredric “Rick” Freese, Sr., 81, of Palatka, FL, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, September 29, 2023 at Haven Hospice Roberts Care Center in Palatka. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rick had lived in Putnam County, FL, since 2009, coming from Columbus, NJ. He was a 1959 graduate of New Brunswick High School. In 1985, he received his bachelor’s degree from Jersey City State College in Jersey City, NJ and in 1995 earned his master’s in divinity degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Following his seminary training, he was ordained by the Church of the Lutheran Brethren at Bunker Hill Lutheran Brethren Church in Griggstown, NJ. While taking classes, he had been employed by the state of New Jersey as a senior fire protection engineer and supervisor in chaplaincy services at a prison reception facility in Ewing, New Jersey, retiring in 2008 after 25 years of service. In 2011, he was called as pastor of St. Johns Lutheran Church in Palatka where he served for 12 years.