- Date Of Birth: January 18, 1918
- Date Of Death: November 8, 2015
- State: Michigan
Frederick John Pilgrim (Kalamazoo resident since 2003) peacefully passed away November 8 at the age of 97 at home surrounded by loved ones. He was born January 18, 1918 in Youngstown, OH to the late Frederick Herbert Pilgrim and Geneva (Blanche Jones) Pilgrim. Fred was united in marriage to Meta Louise Tisch on June 16, 1945. Married for 66 years she preceded him in death in 2011. He is survived by one sister, Nancy Wright of Newark, OH; another sister, Mary Jane Pilgrim passed away in 2014.
Surviving are two daughters; Diane Pilgrim (Portage), Gail Pilgrim-Ross (Canfield, OH); 2 grandsons, Mark Johnson (Grosse Pointe, Ml), Christian Johnson (Kalamazoo); 2 sons-in-law, Bruce Johnson (Grand Rapids) and Stephen Ross (Canfield, OH); several nieces and nephews. Fred graduated South High School (Youngstown, OH) in 1935. With full scholarship, he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute earning a BS in Chemistry (1939) and MS (Chemistry) in 1940.
He received his PH.D in Organic Chemistry from the U. of Illinois in 1948. During his career he worked for Merck & Co. (Rahway, NJ), Chas. A. Pfizer (Groton, CT), Wm S. Merrill & Co. (Cincinnati, OH). While at Pfizer, he was the Research Team Manager for the discovery of Tetracycline. After retiring in the 1970s he went on to open, his own business (Pilgrim Financial Services in Pine Beach, NJ). Fred was an Eagle Scout, member of P1 Kappa Alpha (Diamond Chapter Member), Phi Lambda Upsilon, Sigma Xi, and the National Assn. of Security Dealers. Of his many hobbies and interests, the most noted were golf, watching baseball and football, classical music, photography, stamp collecting, and travelling.
