Frederick Potter

1949 - 2024

Early on a May morning in Columbus, Montana, after a 3" rain, as some of us slept or readied for work, Fred Potter turned in his time following a cruel battle with esophageal cancer. He was three days shy of his 75th birthday.

Fred was born to Shelley Waterman Potter Jr. and Aili Lillian Kajander in Concord, Massachusetts on May 27, 1949. He joined his older sister Sue. His early years were spent with the family moving from Massachusetts to Michigan to Syracuse, New York as his dad finished up his college studies. They initially settled in Syracuse where Fred started school and grew up playing with the Carey brothers, Steve and Jim.

When Fred was in 4th grade his father took the job as Manager of the Charles Lathrop Pack Demonstration Forest, part of what was then known as the State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. The Forest was located near Warrensburg, New York in the Adirondack Mountains. It was an idyllic place to grow up surrounded by forest, mountains, lakes, and brooks. Fred got up in the morning and just was on the go until called in for dinner, playing with the Gregson, Ross, and Edmunds kids (and Carpenter boys up the road), whose families worked in the woods or at the sawmill. Fred and his buddies remembered well sneaking out at night to fire up the Timberjack skidder or International log truck and take a joy ride on the logging roads in the winter while the parents were in town on a night out. Think anyone noticed?

At Warrensburg Central High School, Fred played 8-Man Football, Basketball, and Baseball, all for the same Head Coach! That doesn't happen much anymore! He was an excellent skier and loved carving up the trails on Gore and Whiteface Mountains. Fred also enjoyed speed skating and competed in youth races around the Adirondack Mountain area.

His first job in High School was working the green chain at Bob Sweet's hardwood sawmill in north Warrensburg. Now there is some hard work; you better pick up the pace!

After High School, Fred went to the Culinary Institute of America in New Haven, Connecticut to learn to become a chef. After graduation, he went on to a 30-year career in the Food Service and Hospitality Industry, working throughout northeastern New York at numerous colleges and tourist resorts.

Fred first spent time in Montana in the mid 1990's to help his mom recover from surgery and he went back and forth for the next 20 years between Columbus, Montana and the Stony Creek/Warrensburg area of New York State, trading the Beartooths back and forth for the Adirondacks. When in Montana, he worked off and on with the crew at the Timberweld Manufacturing plant in Columbus. He finally settled in Montana for good about 2014.

Having grown up in the Adirondack Mountains, Fred acquired a taste for venison at an early age and was quite proud to still fill his tag into his 60's up on Shane Creek, thanks to his good friend, the late Bob Harsha.

For the last 6 years or so, Fred was the Caretaker of the Columbus Community Gardens. He had a passion for vegetable gardening and would study seed catalogs on many a cold January night, planning next spring's planting. Fred could really grow stuff! His numerous friends in Columbus sorely missed his visits this summer after his passing. In previous years he would deliver bountiful harvests of radishes, beets, carrots, beet greens, acorn squash, green beans, pumpkins, lettuce, Swiss chard, cucumbers, potatoes, and tomatoes. You name it, Fred could grow it, and grow it well!

Fred was proceeded in death by his parents. He is survived by 2 daughters, Robin Mahler (Jeff) of Thurman, New York and Carrie Winslow of Warrensburg; his sister, Susan Geraghty (Ennis) of Columbus; 4 grandchildren: Autumn Mahler, Hunter Mahler, Max Richards, and Ellie York; niece Emily Ward (Luke) of Helena, Montana; nephew Chris Geraghty (Nyasha) of Richmond, Virginia. At Fred's request, no services are planned and cremation has taken place.