John & Sylvia Fredericks Memorial Scholarship Fund

“In wanting to honor my parents’ life and legacy somehow, I was referred to CFGNB and chose to establish a scholarship fund in their memory. John and Sylvia were lifelong New Britain residents, hard-working, caring, honest, and beloved by family and friends. As family was everything to them, Christmas was their favorite holiday, and they were very patriotic.

John dressed as Uncle Sam during Reagan’s visit to New Britain

John served in the Army during World War II and Korea. Later in life, he was active serving on various commissions including as a police commissioner, but was best known for dressing up as Uncle Sam for parades and events city- and state-wide, including President Reagan’s visit to New Britain on July 8, 1987. John passed away November 30, 2003. Sylvia said, “We’re decorating the tree in red, white, and blue this year!” and the tradition carried on every year following.

Sylvia in front of the red, white, and blue Christmas tree

Sylvia worked at Fafnirs for 39 years assembling ball bearings. She could cook or bake anything and no one could make a pie like her. A day after celebrating her 89th birthday, she suffered a ruptured aneurysm. Six months later she was working on her hands and knees in the garden. Even into her 90s, she was still gardening, making 20+ pies and 40 turnovers during summer, and over 1600 cookies at Christmas, so she could give cookies to her family and friends. Sylvia loved bingo, was a big UCONN women’s basketball fan, looked amazing for her age, and was a once in a lifetime mom. She passed away on November 30, 2020 at 94 years young, and this fund is the best way I can think to honor them. I hope the impact they had on me can help students pursue their careers and encourage them to have a positive impact on others, and always be there for their parents when they need help.” – Gary Fredericks

The purpose of this fund is to enable recipients to attend schools of higher education including accredited colleges, universities, technical or trade schools.

One or more scholarship(s) per year shall be awarded to high school seniors or previous graduates of high schools (public or private) who meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Graduating seniors or previous graduates of Avon, Berlin, Bristol, Farmington, New Britain, Newington, Plainville, Southington and Wethersfield High School(s), or any successor thereto.
• Students must be pursuing a degree or certificate program in the field of Nursing, Physical Therapy, Law Enforcement, or be accepted to a United States Military Academy such as The USMA at West Point, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, or U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. (Awardees accepted to a military academy will have their award applied to their academy account for expenses the cadet is responsible for where possible). Students attending Medical Schools for an advanced degree in medicine are also eligible to apply.
• Students must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average to apply.
• Students are to demonstrate that they are hardworking, community, and family oriented like those the scholarship is named for.
• Preference will be given to students attending the University of Connecticut in one of the noted degree or certificate programs.

Awardees from previous years are eligible to apply for renewed scholarships in subsequent years so long as they meet all scholarship criteria (i.e. continued pursuit of a degree in the fields listed previously, maintain a B average overall, a student in good standing at the institution where coursework is being pursued).