IN MEMORIAM
BOB FRENZEL; JAMES BAIRD
Sadly, we lost two of our own FAIRtax warriors. We take time out to remember them today as we continue the work that they started.
Robert H. Frenzel
Bob Frenzel of Woodbridge, Virginia, our Delegate from Virginia, passed away unexpectedly on February 11, 2019 at the age of 65. Bob is survived by his wife, Jackie, his step son, Michael Hancock, two grandchildren and three siblings.
Bob, an attorney, moved from Florida to Virginia to take a legal position with the Federal Aviation Administration. Bob headed a department and supervised other attorneys.
Bob was long involved in FAIRtax activity. I believe I [Jim Bennett] first met Bob at a 2012 meeting in Chicago at an ad hoc Strategic Planning Committee for the FAIRtax. Later that year, Bob was welcomed onto a predecessor grassroots board called “FAST” (FairTax America Support Team) at a conference. Notes from that September 27, 2012 conference show that Bob had plans to put together a DC Cadre to assist the national grassroots effort. Bob did help Chairman Steve Hayes and Legislative Director, Peggy Green-Ernst, during their monthly trips to Washington, D.C. Following the death of Leo E. Linbeck, Jr. on June 8, 2013, Bob attended a meeting in Houston hosted by Leo Linbeck III to discuss the handover of Americans For Fair Taxation to the grassroots. Bob later attended the June 13-16, 2014 meeting in Houston at which authority for Americans For Fair Taxation was formally handed over. Bob then attended the January 17-18, 2015 meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, where his legal input on several issues was invaluable.
State Director, Steve Curtis, writes, “Bob was one of the first people I talked to about the FairTax. Going to miss him!” Randy Fischer writes, “Sadly, I did not have a chance to know him well enough. I spent quite a bit of time with him in Nashville at the January 2015 meeting. Really, really nice guy.” Former Florida State Director, Mark Gupton, writes, “Bob helped me put together the early stages of the Florida FairTax state organization and before he moved to Virginia, he served as the North Florida District Director. Bob shared with me a story about his having a heart attack and was pronounced dead before emergency services people revived him. This was only a year or two before his association with FairTax.”
I think Bob was meant to be spared in order to launch the FAIRtax movement, and he left us too soon. Bob was a devout Roman Catholic and developed a friendship with New Jersey State Director, John O’Rourke as both were active in their churches.
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James D. Baird
James D. Baird, of Old Hickory Tennessee, our Delegate from that state, passed away suddenly on February 13, 2019 at the age of 71. James is survived by his wife, Mary, five children and six grandchildren.
James graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in mechanical engineering. Throughout his life, James was a huge UT fan, most recently sad about how the football season ended, but then finding excitement in the basketball team. James was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. James had a 40-year career with DuPont, starting as a supervisor upon graduation from college and finishing his DuPont career as a quality control manager in the Sontara Division (which makes surgical gowns and drapes). James retired from DuPont and went in with a group to start a medical supply business, IHT. James was with IHT for nine years and retired just this past June, 2018. James was an avid reader.
James was a FAIRtax enthusiast for years, having ridden on the FairTax Bus. James was a founder of Fair Tax Tennessee, Inc. in September 2014. James always wished he had had more time to put into FAIRtax.
Perhaps most telling are the comments we received from James’s FAIRtax colleagues. FAIRtax President and Chairman, Steve Hayes, writes, “James was a great gentleman and our movement is now missing another person who was not in the wagon but actually pulling the wagon. James was a true advocate and never failed to help where and when he could.” Alabama State Director, Chuck Bailey, writes, “Alabama sends condolences to the Baird family. We will miss our FAIRtax Warrior from Tennessee.” I [Jim Bennett] remember meeting James at the January 17-18, 2015 conference in Nashville. Just as James always wished he had had more time to put into FAIRtax, I wish I had had time to get to know him better.
We will perhaps remember James most for his sense of civic duty. A vignette exemplifies this sense. James’ widow, Mary, recalls that their daughter asked James if he was paid for his time spent on FAIRtax. James told his daughter he was not paid; rather, he was trying to make a better world for her. James’s source of comfort was in knowing that he was doing something good for the country. We must honor James by carrying on his work.
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CALL FOR PICTURES AND WRITEUPS
We need more of you to send in pictures and news. If you have anything to share, please send your material to me at jim.bennett@fairtax.org, or text me at (908) 578-4975, or fax me at (908) 598-2888. When others see your activity, they are inspired, and the process snowballs. When the process snowballs, Congress Members and Senators and, yes, even the President start to listen.