Biographical data

Biographical Data
Freele, Robert J. If you have images associated with this Person, please contact us at admin@nauticapedia.ca

Title	Ordinary Seaman (Officer Candidate UNTD) (RCNVR)
Official Number	(nk)

Birth	00/00/1922	Death	17/03/2003
Place	Sarnia	Place	Fort Collins
Area	ON	Area	CO
Country	Canada	Country	USA

Titles
Honours
Awards
Qualifications

Biography
At the end of the Second World War he attended the University of Tulsa, OK, where he graduated with a Masters in Petroleum Engineering Refining in 1947. He then worked for Continental Oil in various capacities in Oklahoma and Mississippi. In 1974 he became the Plant Manager of a Quaker State Refinery in Pennsylvania. Retiring in the late 1980s, he and his wife Audrey, settled in Montgomery, Texas, where one of their sons was an MD in Houston/Dallas. On March 17, 2003, both he and his wife were killed in a traffic accident, not far from home. A 19 year old driver rear-ended them forcing the car into live traffic, where they were hit by a truck. A tragic end to an interesting life. They were spared the knowledge that less than 3 months later, another of their sons, David, died at the age of 55 in Fort Collins, Colorado USA.

Biography

At the end of the Second World War he attended the University of Tulsa, OK, where he graduated with a Masters in Petroleum Engineering Refining in 1947. He then worked for Continental Oil in various capacities in Oklahoma and Mississippi. In 1974 he became the Plant Manager of a Quaker State Refinery in Pennsylvania. Retiring in the late 1980s, he and his wife Audrey, settled in Montgomery, Texas, where one of their sons was an MD in Houston/Dallas. On March 17, 2003, both he and his wife were killed in a traffic accident, not far from home. A 19 year old driver rear-ended them forcing the car into live traffic, where they were hit by a truck. A tragic end to an interesting life. They were spared the knowledge that less than 3 months later, another of their sons, David, died at the age of 55 in Fort Collins, Colorado USA.

Military Service
He was appointed as an Ordinary Seaman (Officer Candidate UNTD) RCNVR 1943. In 1943 he served in HMCS York for UNTD. He graduated from U of T the following year and joined the Canadian Army for the final year of the war, under war-time provisions then existing.

Vessels Owned
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Named Features

Anecdotes
Bill Clearihue reports: "He would have been in at least his 3rd year of Chemical Engineering at U of T when he joined the UNTD. He may well have transferred over from the COTC."

References
Cleaihue, Bill (UNTD Nominal List 2014);
Last update
2015-01-19 00:00:00

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Biographical Data

Freele, Robert J.