- Date Of Death: November 19, 2022
- State: Maryland
Frederic Donald Wells, 78, of Damascus, Maryland, passed away on Saturday, November 19, 2022, at his home after an extended illness.
Frederic was born on April 18, 1944, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was the son of Dorothy Ann Danielson and Donald Kester Wells, and also the step-son of Marshall B. Taft. Frederic’s survivors include his wife Susan Salmon Wells, his son Christopher Salmon Wells, his daughter Elizabeth Hamilton Wells, his two grandchildren, his sister Karen Wells Wasley, his step-sister Patricia Taft Henderson, and six nieces and nephews.
His family moved to Barrington, Rhode Island, in 1956, where he attended primary and secondary school, including Barrington High School as a member of the Class of 1962. Prior to his senior year, his family relocated to Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe near Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, where Frederic graduated from the Frankfurt American High School in 1962. He then attended Brown University, graduating with a B.A. in 1966. While at Brown, he was a member of Sigma Chi.
In October 1966, Frederic enlisted in the United States Air Force, completing Officer Training School at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas, in January 1967. He was then assigned to Mather AFB in Sacramento, California, where he completed basic flying training and received his navigator wings in October 1967. He volunteered to fly tactical reconnaissance in Southeast Asia. He was assigned to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho where he trained to fly the unarmed RF-4C aircraft.
Assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon, Vietnam from June 1968 to June 1969, he flew 199 tactical reconnaissance combat missions. He flew combat missions over North and South Vietnam as well as over Laos. Frederic’s flying performance in combat resulted in being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as additional awards for his exemplary combat flying performance.
He subsequently served with NATO operations at RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England, and Zweibrücken Air Base in West Germany. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain in March 1972.
Returning to the States, Frederic moved west and attended Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, where he earned his M.B.A. on September 21, 1973.
On September 29, 1973, he married Miss Susan Dunning Salmon, daughter of Frances Sinclair Salmon and Hamilton H. Salmon III of Lake Placid, New York, in Saint Eustace Episcopal Church.
Frederic and Susan moved to the Village of Lake Placid in 1974 to start their own family, where he worked for the Town of North Elba. One highlight of Frederic’s residence there was the XIII Olympic Winter Games – Lake Placid 1980, when he volunteered at the Cross-country skiing and Biathlon events conducted at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex.
In April 1984, Frederic and his family relocated to Bethesda, Maryland, where he worked in commercial real estate. In April 1987, they moved to Damascus, Maryland, where Frederic worked as an analyst in IT and management consulting.
In retirement, Frederic enjoyed volunteering with his wife at the Friends of the Library, Damascus Chapter, as well as the Damascus Heritage Society Museum.
He loved boating, swimming, hiking, long distance running, and building his Wee Lassie canoe by hand.
Frederic is remembered by his Air Force crewmates as, “a real friend and a great aviator.” Another longtime friend remembers him as, “one of those people who quietly kept everything under control … as the ‘Level Headed’ adult in the room.”
Molesworth-Williams P.A.
