FREDERICK LOUIS LANDRY
1930-2016
Frederick Louis Landry died peacefully at home in the presence of family, on Wednesday, the 20th of January 2016, after a prolonged illness. He was 86. Fred was born on the 4th of January 1930 in Monroe, Louisiana, the son of Sadie Tucker Landry and Louis Patrick Landry. He attended Neville High School in Monroe, the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1949.
A 1953 graduate of Tulane University with degrees in English and Political Science, Fred was very active in the radio and television departments during his college days. He worked at NBC in New York City and later at KTVE, Channel 10 in Monroe, Louisiana and Eldorado, Arkansas as a newsman and writer. He was also MC of the Jaycee Roundtable show on KNOE, Channel 8 in Monroe. During the Korean War Fred served as an Air Force Squadron Commander as Chief of Communications at the RAF base in Bentwaters in East Anglia, U.K. In 1956 he returned to work at his father’s Oldsmobile Cadillac dealership, Twin City Motors, in Monroe.
In the late 1950s Fred moved to Houston and joined Corrigan’s Jewelers, serving as vice-president for eighteen years. In his work for Corrigan’s, he was for several years one of the top salesmen in the nationwide Fine Jewelers Guild of Zales Corporation. Many a local oil magnate and business tycoon purchased Rolexes from Fred at the River Oaks Corrigan’s. His expertise in diamonds, other precious gemstones and jewelry settings remains a hallmark of his career as the fine jewelry he counseled his customers to acquire is now being passed down through the generations. The finest jewel that would come into his life during this period was Veta Marie Gardner, who he married in June of 1961. Fred and Veta had been married for over 45 years at the time of her death in March of 2007. After his career in jewelry, Fred was a residential real estate broker for his own firm.
Fred was a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, River Oaks Country Club and the executive committee of the board of trustees of the Retina Research Foundation. He was also a loyal member of the River Oaks Rotary Club with over forty years of perfect attendance. Additionally, he was a member of the Harris County Historical Society.
Fred was preceded in death by his wife, Veta Gardner Landry, and by his son, Frederick Louis Landry, Jr.
He and his wife Veta are survived by a son, Louis Gardner Landry, and by a daughter, Elizabeth Landry Garcia and her children, his granddaughters, Caroline McLaren Kuffner and Veta Elizabeth (Evvi) Garcia, and by Elizabeth’s husband Richard Garcia – all of Houston.
He is also survived by his granddaughter, Lauren Marie Landry Fenhaus and her husband Joshua, and their sons (Fred’s great-grandsons) Cole and Mason Fenhaus of Fayetteville, Texas; and by his grandsons, Louis Patrick Landry and Frederick Louis Landry III – both of Austin, Texas.
Other survivors include his sister, Jane (Mrs. D.M. Cummings formerly of Houston and Kerrville, Texas) and his nephew, Christopher Schubert and his wife Donna of Troy, Alabama.
Honorary pallbearers are Bill Cathriner, Sr., Chuck Gardner, Walter Jefferson, Joe Lopez, Vic Morris, Jerrol Springer and Joe Westerlage – all of Houston, and Gilbert Marx of Monroe, Louisiana.
The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Delores Harris and Angela Rutherford for their loyal and thoughtful care for Fred during his final years.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until seven o’clock in the evening, on Sunday the 24th of January, at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
The memorial service will be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, the 25th of January, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in Bagby Parish Hall.
Prior to the service, the family will have gathered for a private interment at Memorial Oaks Cemetery.
In lieu of usual remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to the Retina Research Foundation, The Pastoral Care Department at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, or the charity of your choice.