Frederic B Presbrey

Frederic Barnes Presbrey of Marstons Mills, MA was born at the Providence Lying-In Hospital in Rhode Island on July 15, 1943. He passed away suddenly on June 6, 2025 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, MA, just shy of his 82nd birthday.
During his almost 82 years he accomplished more to make the world a better place than can be simply recounted. People all over the region remember his connection to their first homes and their kids' sports through his advocacy and generosity.
Rick, as he was affectionately known, was a gentleman of compassion and decency with a heartbeat felt by all with whom he so generously shared his goodness. His presence was marked by love, especially for those in need either emotionally, physically or financially.
Rick once told me, "I remember a few events from my early childhood that were learning experiences that made life-long impressions on me. The first occurred one day when my mother was driving me home from school. As we turned onto Prospect street there was a small cardboard box in the road which my mother avoided. As a young boy I wished that she had run it over so I asked her why she didn't. She answered, 'There might be a kitten in the box.' I never forgot that. I still believe that there are lots of "kittens" in our everyday lives that we need to watch out for and protect."
In the seventh grade Rick began attending Moses Brown, a Quaker school in Providence. "I was a terrible student!" he admitted. "Looking back, I realize that I learned a lot at Moses Brown about values and about people but not so much about what was being taught in class. The motto of the school was 'For the Honor of Truth.' Truth is in short supply right now but back then it became [the] Commandment."
Rick went to the University of Rochester in New York for one year in 1961. The following year he worked helping to build an electric power plant in Fall River, MA.
In June, 1963 he and his lifelong friend Paul Wilson went to Europe for the summer. They bought a new white Porsche convertible in Brussels for $3,660 for the sole purpose of driving it as fast as possible across Europe. and they did. They believed cars represented freedom and art and they were involved in auto racing, as spectators and fans in their youth and beginning in their 50's as drivers and each other's pit crews as the principles of Rocking Horse Racing. Rick's love of cars began at an early age. He recalled, "When I was four, my mother told me that when she and I waited for the bus to go to downtown Providence shopping I would name the brand of each car that went by as we stood waiting."
After the adventure in Europe, Rick went back to school. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a major in journalism in 1966 and later received his Masters of Science in Management from Lesley College in 1991. After undergraduate studies he went to work for VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America - the domestic version of the Peace Corps). In VISTA he was assigned to the Leech Lake Reservation, home of the Chippewa Tribe - Plains Indians who were driven to the coldest part of the country in northern Minnesota. It was there that he gleaned that the future of any society depends on the next generation and he took it upon himself to make things better for the next generation of the tribe. He met the needs of the tribe's people (in particular the youngsters) focusing on housing, education and recreation. This was the inception in Rick's soul of what would later become Housing Assistance Corporation.
After moving to Cape Cod the next significant milestone in Rick's career occurred in July of 1974 when he founded HAC (Housing Assistance Corporation). It consisted of Rick and one other half-time person, and its "office" was a former two car garage in West Yarmouth. His first task was visiting as many of the one hundred or so households for whom HAC would help pay monthly rent and the other five Cape housing authorities that existed at the time.
HAC's vision was "A community where everyone has a safe, stable and decent place to live."
In Rick's voice, HAC became a "yes we can help" organization dedicated to assisting as many households as possible with as many approaches necessary to address their various needs. It served the three-county area: Barnstable which encompassed all of Cape Cod, Dukes (Martha's Vineyard) and Nantucket.
By the time he retired 43 years later HAC had 120 employees and a $30 million budget, including the cost of one new housing development project a year. He had spearheaded the creation of about 37 different program approaches and according to Ed Mangiafico, a former HAC Board President, "Had helped about 160,000 people by providing them with access to safe housing through a variety of measures directed at low and middle-income residents."
Numbers aside, Rick's co-worker Nancy Davison believes his legacy is that you should always treat people the way you want to be treated. "The main substance of Rick has always been to treat people well." This simple "golden rule" was his guiding principle for his entire life.
He was the son of Frederic Gibson Presbrey and Margaret Barnes Presbrey.
He is survived by his loving wife Melanie Powers of 36 years and their son Paul.
He is also survived by his first wife, Janice, and their three children Eric, Aaron and Kate. Their spouses and partners Megan, Barry and Paul also feel his loss as do his six grandchildren. Eric and his wife have Fred, Lulu and George; Katherine and Paul have Hannah, Emma and Caleb.
Other surviving close family members include his older sister Meredith and her three children, Tom, Polly and Nina who have all been precious to Rick through all of their lives.
Once again in Rick's words, "I learned a lot as I grew up and sometimes didn't realize or understand what I had learned until weeks or even years later. I have continued to learn all my life, which is still true even now at eight decades old. I also realized that if there are things you want to do, don't just put them off, make a plan and do them. I have also learned that self-awareness is important and if there are things about yourself that you want to change or improve you can do it."
Upon retirement from HAC he reflected, "At HAC we really tried to improve the lives of individuals and society as a whole. I don't think a person of conscience, intelligence and caring can want other than to do that. Our goals were to help develop decent affordable housing and a sense of community and trust - where you can feel safe and have some common values and where there is job training and jobs. Our staff, who I consider my friends, are very motivated and skilled. I am grateful for them. I hope they feel the same way about me."
His impact is clear in the words of those who knew him well:
Dr. Nathan T. Rudman- "One of the best, most empathetic human beings ever placed on this earth. An honor to be his friend."
Noah Hoffenberg- "A good man who did what was right because it was the right thing to do. He changed people's lives for the better all the time, like no one else could. A compassionate man who did a ton of good."
Paul Rifkin- "There's a hole in the universe."
Maggie Geist-"He was a wonderful big-hearted man and a great citizen."
State Representative David Vieira- "He will surely be missed."
Buff Chace- "A wonderful man."
Matt Patrick- "A wonderful man who saw the potential to do good in the world and did it."
Paul Wilson- "Rick was a selfless idealist."
Michael Sweeney- "Rick had an endless passion to help anyone and a heart that guided him with love."
Abbott (Sid) Davison – "Rick was one who reached out to others with unconditional compassion and was brave enough to do the right thing at the right time."
Paul Hebert – "Rick was creative, inspired and experimental in his housing efforts, and neither praise nor criticism deterred him from his course of action."
Rick's passing is, as close friend Diana Parker stated, "So impossibly sad."
Kate Presbrey Wylie – I am reminded of my Dad's "idealism and optimism. He was, in our conversations, a philosophical thinker, a believer in possibilities, and a creative problem solver."
Paul Presbrey- "Of course his heart ultimately got him, he had given it to everyone."
In an interview in May of 2017 Rick was asked about his spiritual views. His response was poignant:
"We live some eighty years - and that's just a moment-in-time in history. I have tried to make a difference in my time here. I try to make the best of each day for everything around me in practical and spiritual ways. When I pray it is for the health of the earth."
In post-retirement years Rick continued to learn and love. He had great passions for his family and friends, for people he'd meet each day, for his dogs and, for the health and future of the earth and its environment. He had avocations related to cars and to politics. He engaged with local non-profits new to him with his magnificent curiosity.
He saw the kitten in every box and it was a privilege and, an always humbling honor, to be loved by him.
Rick, in true character, has told his family for more than 30 years that he wants his "funeral" to be a fundraiser and celebration.
In lieu of other tributes, donations can be made to Homeless Not Hopeless INC. through their website https://homelessnothopeless.org/support/ or by mail at 119 Baxter Road, Hyannis, MA 02601.
Many thanks to Paul Rifkin and Aaron Presbrey and to all the many people who spoke these remembrances of Rick. We hope all who would like to participate in tribute will join us in the Fall.