Frederick William Guardabassi

Guardabassi Guardabassi, Frederick William, born April 3, 1929, Los Angeles, CA; died December 30, 2007, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Formerly of Beverly Farms, MA, Tucson, AZ, Rome and Perugia (Pila) Italy. Fred was the son of Francesco, an Italian opera singer and artist and Rosalind, a Massachusetts philanthropist. He spoke Italian and English in his home and learned 2-3 other languages fluently. He graduated from St. George's Prep School in R.I. and studied for two years at Harvard. Then he served in Army Intelligence in Paris, France, then married Marilyn Jaspert of Andover, MA and served in Naples, Italy. In 1954, when the newlyweds returned to the U.S. they had their first child, Linda, in Massachusetts, before moving to Washington, D.C. for Fred to complete his degree in International Relations at Georgetown University. Fred worked for a while at the CIA in Langley, VA. Fred and Marilyn returned to Massachusetts where Fred worked for Evans International. They had another daughter, Diana and son, St. George. Fred and a business partner founded Transeuropa International, an import/export company. They introduced Swiss cheese and beef fondue to the USA and sold all of the cookware associated with fondue all over the world. In 1965 the Guardabassi family of five moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL where Marilyn and Fred lived the rest of their lives. In Ft. Lauderdale, Fred built and ran Everglades Marina for many years. When he later sold the marina he continued on as an entrepreneur and became very involved in Republican politics. Fred was appointed and successfully ran Ronald Reagan's election and reelection campaigns for Broward County. Fred accepted his appointment from President Reagan to be an ambassador to UNESCO which required him to travel to Europe and work diligently in that role. Later, Fred was appointed by President George H. Bush to the Christopher Columbus's Quincentenary Committee to plan all the events for the international 500 year Celebration of Columbus's discovery of America. For the rest of his life Fred continued as an entrepreneur and worked behind the scenes supporting Conservative Republican politics nationally and internationally. Fred's wife, Marilyn died in 2002 after 49 years of marriage. Fred was blessed to find love again with Janet Moody. They met in 2003, were married in 2006 and they enjoyed companionship and a loving union until December 30, 2007. They traveled a lot in their too short relationship and greatly enjoyed visiting their out of town children and grandchildren. They saw and did a lot together with dear friends here as well as to parts unknown. Fred will be sorely missed by innumerable family and friends. Fred was a fabulous husband, father, grandfather and true friend. He had a fascinating international upbringing and life. He was extremely knowledgeable about the world, especially Italy and Europe. He had amazing experiences throughout his life ranging from seeing Mussolini and Hitler up close as a boy, attending Mussolini's son's birthday party, meeting Margaret Thatcher, Ronald & Nancy Reagan throughout his presidency and seeing them sometimes at the White House, Ollie North, King Juan Carlos of Spain to name a few. But much more important than all of that is that Fred had a kind, warm, caring and generous heart. He took interest in everyone he met. He was an excellent listener. He had a great sense of humor and would regale people with stories told in convincing foreign accents. We all miss him deeply and love him tremendously. We are all better for having had the privilege of sharing our lives with him whether as his spouse, his child, his grandchild, his close relative or true friend. He was preceded in death by his father, Francesco M. Guardabassi (1952), his mother, Rosalind Wood Guardabassi (1972), his wife, Marilyn J. Guardabassi (2002) and his brother, Giunio Guardabassi (2003). Fred leaves behind his loving family including Janet M. Guardabassi; his children: daughter, Linda G. Michael (Doug) of Louisville, KY, daughter, Diana G. Houha (Philip) of Boulder, CO and son, F. St. George Guardabassi (Page) of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; 7 grandchildren: Andrew, Paul & Krista Michael; Jennifer & Laura Houha; Carolina & Catherine Guardabassi; Carr Moody (Barbara), their sons, Phillip & Christopher and Caroline M. (Bob) of Washington, D.C. Fred's memorial service will be on Friday, January 4, 2008 at 3pm at 1st Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale. Funeral arrangements by Fred Hunters Funeral Home, Phone: 954-989-1550. The family has requested in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to: The American Heart Association. Website: www.fredhunters.com.