Claude Frerichs

LINCOLN — Remarkable husband, father, grandfather, gardener, and woodworker, Claude Frerichs, passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by his loving family, Dec. 16. 2021.

A celebration of his life will be held in the spring, outdoors, where Claude would have liked it.

Claude grew up with his twin sister, Connie, and played baseball with his brother, Jerry, in Coleridge. He joined the Marines at 17

He joined the Marines at 17 and served in Vietnam, after which he returned to Nebraska where he found the love of his life, Nadine, and graduated from the UNMC College of Pharmacy.

Claude and Nadine bought an acreage west of Lincoln in 1977, at that time he also began his career as a community pharmacist.

Together, they spent four and a half decades raising three strong children, planting thousands of plants and trees, and enjoying the birds and wildlife in the habitat they created at their place. A man of many collections, he loved books, antiques, and wooden baseball bats; he never missed an opportunity to pick up a perfect red rock, no matter how small.

Big-hearted and open-minded, Claude’s kindness was felt by everyone who knew him. He spent his retirement wrestling grandkids and teaching them how to be good little people, building the perfect wood shop, serving on the Veteran’s Memorial Garden Council, belonging to the Wachiska Audubon Society, and happily whistling while working on his projects.

Claude will be forever missed by his wife, Nadine; eldest daughter, Kellie Frerichs, and her son, Keegan; daughter, Erin Merboth, her husband, David, and their children, Miles and Claire; and son, Kyle, and his wife, Kristin.

Memorials may be sent to Claude’s family, where they will be given to the Veteran’s Memorial Garden Council, to be used to provide Bricks of Honor to other proud veterans who may be in need of the means to purchase a brick of their own.