Frederick Q. Gemmill, 1914-1998 1998 Town Report by Louise King
Reprinted with permission of the Hollis Times Back in 1976 when I first was employed by the Town of Hollis and worked at the Town Hall Fred was Chairman of the Planning Board. As the sole employee in the Town Hall, I was asked to do some paperwork for the Planning Board when necessary. I soon found out that Fred was a most meticulous person. He was concerned about things being correct. In fact, there were times he drove me nuts with his nit-picking.
Soon I worked with Fred and Austin Chandler researching deeds in preparation for a town tax map, which was required to be in existence by1990. Fred taught me how to research deeds at the Registry of Deeds. I appreciated his patience and thoughtfulness. This information became invaluable as I expanded my work in Town Hall and was becoming familiar with the various properties in Town. During this time, Fred's daughter Katie died. It was a trying time for him, but he was always cheerful—never asked for pity.
Soon Fred became a Selectman, and I worked more closely with him. He was a stickler for details, had a fetish of making sure any and all copies were DATED. At this time, he worked with me on investing funds. His comment was, "Always make the money work for you."
I treasured the times when Fred would come in the office and just sit and chat for a bit. He had a vast knowledge of the town and shared this with me. I always respected Fred and felt he was a most prim and proper gentleman, but one day he started talking about his summer home on Lake Champlain and soon he made the comment, "It sure is great fun to go skinny dipping." I was shocked. There was indeed an impish person behind that well-behaved facade.
Fred moved on to be Town Treasurer and THAT was an experience. What he knew about finances was overwhelming! By that time Mary Anne Smith had come on board as the Town Accountant, and boy did she and I tow the line on all matters financial.
Soon his first wife Dot became ill with Alzheimer's disease. I had lost my stepmother from Alzheimer's and tried to help Fred anticipate what was going to happen as time went on. It was a trying time for all of us.
Before Fred's second wife Virginia came into his life, Fred invited me to his home for dinner to share his memories of Dot. He was quite lonely, of course. I happened to see a picture of a most familiar church hanging in his study. It was the church I attended as a child and from which George and I were married. It turned out that Fred had studied photography while living on Long Island and had taken this picture of St. Andrew's Church on Staten Island, NY. We were surprised that we had this in common. One day, a while later, Fred came into the office and presented me with a framed copy of the church. How caring. What a gentle man. That same evening Fred wanted to show me his new "toy"—a metal detector. Nothing would do but that we go all over his den looking for metal.
And then there was the town report! If anything really put me on edge it was getting the town report printed. Fred would always be one of the first people to come in and get his copy, and I always cringed, for it would not be long before my phone would ring and Fred would say, "Louise, on page 50 of the Town Report there is an error and on page 72 there is another, etc." I thoroughly enjoyed the year the Selectmen dedicated the Town Report to Fred. For once I had scooped him!
All in all, Fred was the epitome of a compassionate, gentle man. He never uttered a word against anyone. He always looked for the good in all people. For a man who had lost three children and two wives, Fred was cheerful and upbeat to the end.
When George and I visited with him in the hospital a few weeks ago, he was giving us a lecture on making our money work for us as we enjoy our retirement. Caring to the end, I miss him deeply, as do many other Hollis residents who had the good fortune to know and work with him.