Fred KETTEMAN

News Death Notice

KETTEMAN, Fred Frederick Charles Ketteman passed away unexpectedly at home in Seattle, Washington on September 9, 2014, with close friends by his side. Fred was born to Anne and Charles T. Ketteman on March 12, 1938 in Dayton, Ohio. He is survived by his sisters Patti (Jimmie) McKinney and Peggy (Del) McConnell, both of Centerville, Helen Draughn of West Carrollton and extended family and friends. Following graduation from Ohio University in 1960, Fred was hired by Dave Hackett to work in John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. He worked both in answering correspondence and the distribution of campaign materials to the field. For a brief time in 1961, Fred worked at the White House in the old Executive Office Building answering the tons of mail that was elicited by JFK's "ask not" proposition. Somehow, he survived all of the cuts in staff, mainly due to Dave's influence. Fourteen months later, he embarked upon a maritime career as a purser with American President Lines in San Francisco and made his maiden voyage aboard the S.S. PRESIDENT HOOVER in May 1962. For the next 30 years, he collected friends and fascinating ports-of-call, and lived in Honolulu, Maui, San Francisco, and sin. In a 1991 appearance on Jeopardy!. he won $22,500 in one game. Thank you, John Paul Jones. Fred's Act II opened in 1993 in Seattle, where he was employed by the Seattle Symphony and joined Seattle Men's Chorus - arguably the largest and most celebrated gay choral organization in the world, eventually appearing on the stage of Carnegie Hall with Harvey Fierstein. Fred continued to volunteer right up to the end, lending his talents to Companis, a group of professionals who serve the non-profit community, Diverse Harmony, the nation's first Gay/Straight Alliance youth choir, and local public radio station KUOW. A memorial service in celebration of all that Fred was will be held on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at 3:00pm at Seattle First Baptist Church in Seattle. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Fred's name to either Seattle Men's Chorus (seattlemenschorus.org) or Diverse Harmony (diverseharmony.org).