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Long-time area music legend passes away at 77

Fred Rothert, recording a Christmas special for WBOI's Meet the Music, in the Harriet Parrish Performance Studio, 2012
Dave West
Fred Rothert, recording a Christmas special for WBOI's Meet the Music, in the Harriet Parrish Performance Studio, 2012

Acclaimed Allen County musician and educator, Fred Rothert, died Wednesday, Dec. 4 in hospice care, following a seven-month battle with brain cancer.

Born on Nov. 24, 1947, Rothert graduated from South Side High School in 1965, Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, in 1969, and obtained his teaching license in 1988, according to the published obituary.

His passion and talent for music began at an early age, and lead to a total immersion in the local and regional music scene, including work on a summer folk music program with the Fort Wayne Parks Department in the 1960’s.

From there, he would become lead vocalist in numerous country, rock and oldies bands, releasing several records along the way.

He became music director at St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church in Fort Wayne, playing and singing there for 30 years, and served as cantor at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for 40 years.

Equally impressive is Fred’s generosity with his volunteer time, which he began sharing with WBOI soon after the station was established as WBNI in 1982, and he became one of the very first live, in-studio pledge drive performers.

Besides his many dozens of musical appearances on WBOI’s Folktales and Meet the Music sound stages over the decades, he sat down with Julia Meek for a Valentinian interview on the fine art of love songsin 2016, which we share here.

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By day, Fred was a long-time and much-loved English and history teacher with the East Allen County School system, at Leo Jr/Sr High School, retiring in 2012. He not only taught, but loved history, having all the world's events at a moment's recollection on seemingly any subject.

He recently developed a big presence on the Sun City, AZ music scene after retiring there in 2016 with his wife and son. He sang and played in numerous bands, and as a duet with his wife, throughout the years in Fort Wayne and Sun City.

On top of that, he worked as a musician at his own church, Faith Presbyterian Church of Sun City, and also sang regularly at the Cowboy Church on Saturday afternoons at the Sun City West Christian Church.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Bonnie Rothert, their son, Ryan (Martha) Rothert, stepdaughters, Shari Zollner and Sheila Brown, a sister, Susan (Ed) Meyers, a brother, William (Macy) Rothert, two grandchildren, Chelsi Zollner and Zack Fuzy, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Larsh Rothert.

A Celebration of Life will take place in Fred’s honor at St. Mary's Church from 2-4 p.m. Saturday.

Below is a transcript of the Valentine's Day conversation:

Julia Meek: Fred Rothert, welcome.

Fred Rothert: Well, thank you, Julia, I thank you for having me.

Julia Meek: Since love is often, at least unofficially, considered the universal language, is it going too far out on a limb to think that love songs are the most universal form of music?

Fred Rothert: I don't think it's too far on a limb. I have not done extensive research in the ethnography of it (chuckles) but it strikes me that of the music that I've heard, and of the different cultures of music, it's a constant theme. It's one of the primary themes, I think, in music.

 Julia Meek: Okay, why do you think that is?

Fred Rothert: Well, probably had something to do with our species mating rituals, I don't know (all chuckle) because it's such an overwhelming emotion, an emotion that we carry with us all our lives, that makes us happy and miserable, and, you know, we're focused on all the time and so forth.

And so the music, most people have music as kind of a background track to their lives. And frequently, we personalize, you know, we take a song we hear on the radio and it means something to us. Maybe it means something to us and our significant other that we put our own meaning into.

You know the great line I always love from Paul McCartney, right after they split up with the John Lennon, he wrote this song, silly love songs. I always have heard that as his response. I could just imagine John Lennon saying that to him, why are you always writing these silly love songs?

That's his response. It's because I look around and I think people would have had enough of that, but no, they haven't. So, here's another one. You know, it's like, that's kind of neat.

Julia Meek: That makes great sense. Thank you for that. Okay? Flowers, candy, jewelry, wine and dining, all popular and tangible valentines. Now love songs, well, they're abstract, conceptual. So how can they even compete with all the rest?

Fred Rothert: Well, they compete with all the rest because they last. You know you eat that box of candy, the flowers die, that love songs there in your mind, if possibly on a recording as well, or possibly when you know that you play or sing.

So, you always have that with you. And for people who have the opportunity to write a love song that also will stay with you, and I know it in my own experience, songs that I wrote many, many years ago that I still perform, and I still know, sometimes they take different meanings.

You know, as life changes, your situations change, they'll see it in a different light.

Julia Meek: Is that true of you yourself?

Fred Rothert: Oh, yes, yeah. For me, it's probably more so, because when I write songs, I usually don't think about them. They just kind of come out. And so later on, I look back, oh, you know, that's what I was thinking about, or that's what that meant, you know. (chuckles)

Julia Meek: Now that's very, very interesting and insightful. Speaking of which, do you have an ultimate love song of your own?

Fred Rothert: I had to really narrow it down to one. It would be difficult. The one that I probably like the best is one called Moon Drift. I guess, like most of my favorite love songs, it's a little ambiguous.

You know, in fact, it seems to me like you have a lot of different kinds of songs that could be classified as love songs. Some of them are, Oh, sweetheart, I love you so much, you're the greatest thing. And there's nothing wrong with that. And I've written some of those.

And then the ones that I like the best are the ones that are just a little haunting. They've just a little bit of a subtext, they're not quite clear, what's going on, what happened before this, where is this leading? And so forth.

And in fact, in, in Moon Drift, I am the song, speculating as to, what will these memories be like after all the years, all the tears and all the dusty years fade away, thinking 20-30, years from now, what's this love affair that I'm writing about going to be like? (musical passage)

I wrote the song in the early years that Bonnie and I were together, and things are still going great, you know, as far as that goes, so in that sense, yeah, the love story is still working out for us, I hope. (chuckles)

Julia Meek: And speaking in musical genres, you are certainly multilingual, to say the least. What are the various advantages with the various genres in getting the point of love across?

Fred Rothert: That's a really good question. I know the thing, you know, for example, country music, which I do a lot of country, now, country, my own taste runs to the anti-love song as more, little more, the brokenhearted song.

But it's certainly, one of the great strengths of country music is a direct forward, just stating how it is. And then the folky light rock, I mean, I think of, say, Fleetwood Mac, or, you know, the folk music of the 60s, the Beatles, even.

You know, you can express these things in kind of poetic devices, so you're not just directly saying, Oh, I love you, though you could do that. Now, blues is another one that's for the most part, not idyllic love songs. They're good, some songs.

You know one of the greatest blues songs, by Jimmy Reed. Don't you know that I love you, honest, I do. He just said that to his wife. Next thing you know, it's a great classic blues song. (chuckles)

Julia Meek: Wow. And what about the good old jazz and jazz standard stuff?

Fred Rothert: Well, those are some of my favorites, and maybe because I came to them later in my life, and some of the lyricists were just so clever. They're witty, sophisticated and so adult.

One of my favorite of that era is Two Sleepy People. You know, here we are, married, it's a couple, married couple, and yet they're sitting up all night. They're too much in love to say good night.

It's not the kind of teenage angst love song that we hear more in pop music, it's that very mature adult stuff.

Julia Meek: So, from every angle of your musical sensibility, now, for lovers everywhere, would you compile for us the ultimate Fred Rothert Valentinian mixtape?

Fred Rothert: (chuckles) Okay, this is gonna be off the top of my head, but I'll say for sure, one of my very favorites is a Beatles song called I Will.

I would pick Over My Head, the Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie one I like real well.

I'd picked the one I mentioned, Two Sleepy People. That's a really great one.

Okay, I'll pick one of mine. I'll put, I'll put one of mine, called Partly for All, and trying to think of a Bob Dylan love song, I would think of Lay Lady Lay.

Julia Meek: Great choice.

Fred Rothert: Yeah. And for a great country love song, how about Look at Us, by Vince Gill. That's a great one and an all- positive one, not one with the broken heart, which is the, most of the songs that would come to my mind would be in that other. (chuckles)

Julia Meek: That's great. That's just perfect. It seems like you have a good mix tape going for all of us, and thank you for that. Fred Rothert is a Fort Wayne based singer songwriter and Director of Music at St Mary's Church. Fred, thank you so much for sharing the seasonal love with us today, and sing it on.

Fred Rothert: All right. Well, thanks for having me. It's been a real pleasure.

A Fort Wayne native, Julia is a radio host, graphic artist, and community volunteer, who has contributed to NIPR both on- and off-air for forty years. Besides being WBOI's arts & culture reporter, she currently co-produces and hosts Folktales and Meet the Music.