Fred Herbert "Freddie" Gadd was born 22 Dec 1935 in Talcott, W.Va., a son of Noah Levi Gadd and wife Beatrice Gore. He had several brothers and sisters.

A family member shared a story about Freddie's early life. Freddie and sister Zula, born in 1933, went to school together and stayed after to help clean. Freddie would get up early and go to start a fire at the school so it would be warm when everyone got there.

A cousin remembers Freddie visiting family on White Oak Mountain, W.Va., and swinging on the grapevines.

In a 2009 phone interview, Zula said Freddie went to Florida where he worked in an orange grove and in a fruit-picking plant.

Freddie, 20 years old and married for a month, was working at the Wedgeworth Packing House when he was fatally injured at work in March 1956. He had been in Florida for a year. Zula said Freddie's foot slipped, his pants leg caught on a fan-belt and he was pulled into an ice crusher.

According to a Florida newspaper (Belle Glade Youth Hurt in Ice Machine, News-Tribune, Fort Pierce, Fla., 22 March 1956, Page 12), Freddie, a "20-year-old packing house worker" at the Wedgeworth Packing House, slipped on a conveyor belt and was "swept into the jaws of the ice crushing machine." The machine had to be cut apart to remove him. He was taken to Belle Glade Memorial Hospital, Palm Beach County, Fla., where he was pronounced in "fair" condition. He died 24 Mar 1956.

Florida Death Index, 1877-1998
Name: Fred Herbert Gadd
Death Date: Mar 1956
County of Death: Palm Beach
State of Death: Florida

The Florida article said, "Gadd's 18-year-old bride works as a vegetable packer in the same plant." The obituary in a Beckley, W.Va., newspaper (Accident Injuries Fatal to Fred Herbert Gadd, 20, Post-Herald/Raleigh Register, 25 March 1956, Page 16)) lists a wife among survivors but doesn't give her name. There is a marriage certificate for Fred Gadd and Beverly Jane Kripps:

Name: Fred Herbert Gadd and Beverly Jane Kripps
Marriage Date: Feb 1956
County of Marriage: Palm Beach
Volume: 1589. Certificate: 3662
Source: Florida Department of Health

E.M. Smith remembers meeting the couple. "Freddie and my mother Golda Vest Smith were cousins. Freddie and Bev came to my parents' house on White Oak Mountain when I was around five and met with his father Noah. They hadn't seen each other in a while and Noah was overcome with emotion and wept." The young couple was on their way to Florida and stored some items at the Smith home including a Bible. They never returned for them.

He was buried in Talcott Cemetery.

NOTE: A second picture of Freddie and his wife Bev, copies of his obituaries and information about his family are online at Gadd page 2, West Virginia Memories:
http://wva.homestead.com/Gadd-page-2.html