Alexander A. Friedman

Alexander A. Friedman

Fayetteville, NY - Alexander A. Friedman, 81, passed away peacefully on November 6, 2019 at his Fayetteville, NY home after a brief unexpected illness, surrounded by his loving family.

Alex was born to Dorothy (May) and Morris Friedman of Vineland, where he spent his childhood and high school years. As a youngster, he was an active Boy Scout, achieving Eagle Scout ranking at age 13. While at Vineland High School he was a member of the football and wrestling teams, and played on the VHS 1955 New Jersey state championship football team. In later years he enjoyed returning to VHS for class and team reunions.

He earned BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Idaho. While at Idaho he met and married Judy (Frey), his wife of 56 years and "the best thing that ever happened to me."

Alex became a licensed professional civil engineer in California, and earned his Doctorate in Environmental Engineering from Univ. of California at Davis in 1970. Following positions at Montana State Univ. and Tennessee Tech. Univ., in 1977 he joined the faculty as a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Syracuse University where he conducted research and taught upper division and graduate courses. After his retirement as Emeritus and Research Professor in 1998, he continued research and consulting activities for several years.

Dr. Friedman had more than 40 years of university, government, planning agency and industrial consulting experience related to environmental engineering, and was a Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. During his academic career he participated in more than 25 research projects funded by industries, federal, state and municipal organizations. He was granted, along with his graduate students, three patents, and authored more than 65 peer-reviewed publications and invited presentations. He served on review panels for US and Canadian government agencies, and several state agencies. He provided consulting services for projects in Canada, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Croatia, and the West Bank, as well as throughout the US. After his retirement, Alex was pleased to serve for 17 years on the Village of Fayetteville (NY) Planning Board.

He was very proud of his children and followed all of their activities. The family enjoyed tent camping for many years, then later he and Judy had wonderful trips to many parts of the world. Alex was a philatelist, a voracious reader, enjoyed photography and fishing, and was an enthusiastic rail buff. He had a wicked sense of humor, and particularly enjoyed a good shaggy dog story.

He is survived by his wife Judy; his son Kirk (Denyse) of San Diego, California; his daughter Jennifer of Reston, Virginia; his brother Ron (Deana) of Cape Canaveral, Florida; and 10 nieces and nephews.

For a guestbook, visit www.scheppfamily.com