William “Bill” Fredeking (Missoula ’52)
Posted: June 14, 2026
Bill was born May 12, 1930, in Clifton Forge, VA. He passed away September 9, 2023, in Sonora, CA, at age 93.
Bill attended school in Clifton Forge and Alexandria, VA, graduating from George Washington HS in 1948.
During the summers of 1949 and 1950, Bill worked on the Coeur d’Alene NF in the blister-rust program and served as a lookout. He was a Missoula smokejumper in 1952 and the following summer received a permanent appointment as a forester on the Coeur d’Alene NF.
In the spring of 1952, Bill received a bachelor’s degree in forestry and wildlife from Virginia Polytechnic Institution. Two years later, he earned a master’s degree in forestry from Montana State University.
He served in the US Army in 1954-56.
Bill returned to Montana and continued his career with the USFS, working on the Kootenai NF in 1961. In 1965, he was promoted and transferred to the Lewis & Clark NF as the timber management and fire staff officer. In 1967, he was transferred to the USFS office in Washington, DC, as an employee development specialist. He served in that position until 1970, when he became the deputy forest supervisor on the Stanislaus NF in Sonora, CA. In 1980, he was transferred to the USFS Region Five regional office in San Francisco as a branch chief. He continued in this role until he retired in 1985.
