Frank Friedler Jr., former N.O. City Council member, dies at 75 Times Picayune November 04, 2009 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Frank Friedler Jr., a retired insurance executive and former New Orleans City Council member, died Tuesday at his home of Alzheimer's disease. He was 75. Mr. Friedler, a leading supporter and financial backer of then-Mayor Moon Landrieu, was appointed to the council's District A seat by the other six members in August 1974 after Peter Beer resigned to run for a judgeship. He won a special election for the seat in 1976 and was re- elected to a full term in 1977 but resigned in February 1980 because his wife was battling cancer. A newspaper article at the time of his resignation described Mr. Friedler as "an articulate, blunt-spoken man who didn't back away from thorny political problems." In his years on the council, reporter Fen Montaigne wrote, Mr. Friedler "made a name for himself as a man who fought to preserve historic neighborhoods, upgrade and consolidate city ambulance services, equalize property tax assessments and expand the Audubon Zoo." Mr. Friedler's son Tripp said his father loved serving on the council and regretted having to leave it. "He respected and enjoyed the people he worked with," the son said, despite the 1979 police strike and other contentious issues during his tenure. Tripp Friedler said his father was one of the first white politicians to endorse Dutch Morial in the 1977 runoff election that made Morial the city's first black mayor, though the two were often at odds after Morial took office. Mr. Friedler was born in New Orleans in 1934. He attended Lusher and Isidore Newman schools. When only 7, he was the subject of a 1942 newspaper article reporting that he had sold almost $12,000 worth of war bonds and stamps, tops among a group of 100 Uptown children aged 6 to 13 taking part in a volunteer drive. After completing his high school education at Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Mr. Friedler attended Yale University, where he graduated in 1955. Following a two-year stint in the Navy, he returned to New Orleans to work for Wembley Inc. Two years later, he joined his father's insurance business, the Friedler Agency. Mr. Friedler qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table his first year in the business and every year thereafter until he retired. He served as president of the Million Dollar Round Table in 1986, traveling around the world to speak to various insurance groups. He also was president of the Association of Advanced Life Underwriters in 1993. He earned the designations of Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant and was admitted to the Home Life Hall of Fame in 1971. At the time of his retirement in 1999, Mr. Friedler was chairman of the Friedler Group, which he had formed with his son in 1993. He retired when he realized that his Alzheimer's diagnosis would not allow him to continue. However, he did not accept his illness passively. He became an active campaigner for Alzheimer's research and awareness, and he allowed The Times Picayune to report in 2001 that he was wearing a Safe Return bracelet to identify him in case he got lost. "I'm wearing it now all the time," he said. "I hope that other people might copy me." Earlier, dealing with his first wife's fight with cancer led Mr. Friedler to form and help endow the Patricia Trost Friedler Cancer Counseling Center at Tulane University in 1985. He later became chairman of the Tulane Medical Center's board of governors. Mr. Friedler was a past chairman of Isidore Newman School and the Jewish Welfare Fund. He also served on the Audubon Park Commission and the boards of the Institute of Politics, Jewish Community Center, New Orleans Museum of Art, Interracial Council for Business Opportunity and many other groups. His civic honors included the Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League, the Tree of Life award from the Jewish National Fund, the Lemann-Stern Leadership Award and the Young Leadership Council's Role Model award. Besides his son Tripp, survivors include his wife, Pamela Davis Friedler; another son, Trost Friedler of Jackson, Miss.; a daughter, Carey F. Chipps of Marietta, Ga.; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Friday at noon at Touro Synagogue on St. Charles Avenue. Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be private.