George Taylor reflects on Fred Decker, a friend

Retired prof’s wisdom will be greatly missed
By George Taylor

Fred Decker was a friend of mine.

Fred W. Decker, 91, died April 3 in Corvallis, nine days after his wife of 66 years, Charlotte. Born July 5, 1917, in Portland, he was the son of John William and Emma Sophia Schlickaiser Decker. Fred graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School and received the Associate in Engineering degree at Multnomah College in Portland. He held a B.S. degree in physics from Oregon State University, an M.S. degree in meteorology from New York University and a Ph.D. in physics, meteorology and mathematics from Oregon State University.

And I was proud to call him a friend. I met Fred shortly after moving here in 1989. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of this outspoken but highly intelligent man. He began dropping by my office on a regular basis. We would chat about the weather, politics and other subjects, and he would tell stories. My goodness! The man could tell stories! He would often begin with “George, have I ever told you about … ” and I would usually say “No, Fred, tell me.”

Often Fred’s visits would coincide with a busy time in my day, and I would sometimes be a bit brusque and tell him I was too busy to visit. He never seemed to get offended, but would simply promise to return another time. And he would.

Fred was quite a sight in the 1990s. He usually rode his bicycle to campus. Mostly he wore a dark overcoat and a black bicycle helmet. And he would often keep his helmet on, even when inside the building.

In many ways, he was a prototypical “absent- minded professor.”

And a diligent and brilliant one at that.

He joined the OSU faculty in 1946 and served until 1981. He taught courses in engineering physics, astronomy, climatology and theoretical and applied meteorology. He directed a teaching and research program that led to the establishment of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at OSU. Fred wrote more than 80 papers, reports and articles plus books including “The Weather Workbook,” “Weather Map Study” and “Science Travel Guide.” After retiring, he taught meteorological courses by correspondence for OSU. He frequently appeared in court as an expert witness as a forensic meteorologist.

Fred spent four years in Washington as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education, from 1981-85, playing a leading role in management and policy of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

Fred was definitely “old school.” This caused him to be ignored or belittled by some “modern” scientists, but I greatly respected and admired the qualities he embodied: hard work, integrity, seeking after truth, respecting others, and encouraging young people. Fred, to me, embodied the word “gentleman.”

Fred was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Charlotte. He is survived by his daughter, Jane, of Tucson, Ariz., son and daughter in law Bill and Janet Decker of Sunnyvale, Calif., daughter- and son-in-law Rainy and Gene Takalo of Damascus, four granddaughters, one grandson, two great grandsons, sister-in-law, one niece and one nephew.

He will be missed. I will miss his phone calls especially, and remember how our calls would end. Rather than saying “goodbye,” Fred would say “God bless.”

God bless YOU, Fred! You enriched my life.

George Taylor retired as Oregon State University Climatologist last year and now operates Applied Climate Services of Corvallis. He can be reached at taylorgh@comcast.net.