Fred Byars Hennessee

Fred Byars Hennessee

Male 1950 - 1985  (~ 34 years)

Personal Information    |    Media    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Fred Byars Hennessee 
    Birth SATURDAY, 9 Dec 1950  New Grace Hospital, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Residence 720 Vernier Road, Grosse Pointe Woods, Wayne County, Michigan 48230 Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Residence 626 Flagler Boulevard, Lake Park, Florida 33403 Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Residence New York City Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Residence Singer Island, Florida Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Residence Delray Beach, Florida Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Residence Lake Worth, Florida Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Residence 2018 Florida Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death THURSDAY, 5 Dec 1985  West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Burial MONDAY, 9 Dec 1985  Mount View Cemetery, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 4, 5
    Person ID I4  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 19 Jul 2019 

    Father Bertha Aldon "Bert" Hennessee,   b. SUNDAY, 3 Nov 1918, Tanyard Springs, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this locationd. THURSDAY,16 Oct 1986, 8774 North Elizabeth Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 33418 Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 67 years) 
    Mother Robert Lucile "Lucile" Byars,   b. 6 Dec 1918, Pa's House, Keltonburg, DeKalb County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Mar 2008, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 89 years) 
    Marriage SATURDAY,22 Jul 1939  Smithville, DeKalb County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 7, 8
    • by Mrs. W. A. Meador and attended by Olene Hill, et. al.
    Residence (Family) 1940  Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee Find all individuals with events at this location  [9
    Residence (Family) 1941-1950  Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [10
    Residence (Family) 1950-1957  Vernier Road, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location  [10
    Residence (Family) 1958-1972  620 Flagler Boulevard, Lake Park, FL 33403 Find all individuals with events at this location  [10
    Residence (Family) 1972-1986  8774 N. Elizabeth Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 33418 Find all individuals with events at this location  [10
    Photos
    Hennessee Family Tombstone
    Hennessee Family Tombstone
    Displaying pedigrees for both Mom and Dad.

    Designed by David and installed in July, 2017...
    Continental Drive, Detroit, Michigan
    Continental Drive, Detroit, Michigan

    This is a current image of the house we lived in between 1945-1950, of course, the neighborhood was far nicer then.

    The house to the right was the home of my best friend, Paul Elias. Paul's family was Lebanese and completely foreign to me given my Southern culture, i.e., they spoke a different language, they were dark-skinned, had black hair, they displayed their Catholic, religious artifacts, ate tabouli, sucked raw eggs and burned incense sticks...

    Upstairs there lived a family called, "?Falk?", whose teenage daughter, "Billie Bea", was probably my first baby-sitter. I remember she retrieved for me an autographed picture of the "Lone Ranger", portrayed by Clayton Moore and I was so excited - wonder what happened to it? Her mother would throw down to me Hershey bars from their upstairs apartment back porch when I was playing in the backyard ... DAH
    Brothers...
    Brothers...
    David & Fred. This photo was taken in Detroit, on Continental Drive, late Spring of 1951...

    Fred was six months and I was 8 ...

    626 Flagler Boulevard, Lake Park, Florida
    626 Flagler Boulevard, Lake Park, Florida
    Mom & Dad's first house in Florida which cost them &17,500. We moved-in during early November, 1957 and as it turned out during an unusual cold spell. I remember freezing my ass off because the house's flooring was terrazzo and there was only ONE wall heater in the entire house. Neither was there air conditioning. I still remember sweating to death during the summer months and through September & October which were the most humid.

    Never did like that house...
    Dad & Mom
    Dad & Mom
    Photo taken in August, 1973 at Perry & Margie Byars' place in Warren County, Tennesseee and contributed by Joe Byars, February 5, 2017

    "Dear David,

    While going through my mother's photo album I found these pictures taken August 1973. I remember their visit, your dad was having a severe bout with bronchitis.

    Spoke with cousin Pearl the other day. She told me about your wife's passing. So sorry. May God bless you.

    Sincerely,

    Cousin Joe"
    Dad & Fred
    Dad & Fred

    Mother noted on the back of this photo that it was taken in March of 1951. It appears to be on the front steps of our place on Continental Drive, in Detroit...
    Brothers Fred & David
    Brothers Fred & David

    This photo was taken about 1956 in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan on our front yard. Mother notes that this is first photo of Fred with glasses...
     Cool Brothers
    Cool Brothers
    This photo was taken during the summer of 1980 on Palm Beach...
    Brothers, Halloween at Maurice's in Palm Beach...
    Brothers, Halloween at Maurice's in Palm Beach...
    Mom & Dad, sitting on a swing at Aunt Pearl's during Dad's last summer in 1986
    Mom & Dad, sitting on a swing at Aunt Pearl's during Dad's last summer in 1986
    Family ID F1  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - SATURDAY, 9 Dec 1950 - New Grace Hospital, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - 720 Vernier Road, Grosse Pointe Woods, Wayne County, Michigan 48230 Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - 626 Flagler Boulevard, Lake Park, Florida 33403 Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - New York City Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - Singer Island, Florida Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - Delray Beach, Florida Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - Lake Worth, Florida Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - - 2018 Florida Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - THURSDAY, 5 Dec 1985 - West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - MONDAY, 9 Dec 1985 - Mount View Cemetery, McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Fred Byars Hennessee, circa 1980
    Fred Byars Hennessee, circa 1980
    Brother Fred. Still grieve for him every day...DAH
    Brother Fred (1950-1985)
    Brother Fred (1950-1985)

    Monte Abramson, a dear friend to the Hennessee brothers, tells me he took this photo on West 64th Street, New York City...
    Family Work Day - Flamingo Park, West Palm Beach, Florida
    Family Work Day - Flamingo Park, West Palm Beach, Florida
    Mom & Dad helped Fred purchase a house down the street from me. It was an old house, built in 1925, and needed a lot of restoration...
    Bert Hennessee (1918-1986)
    Fred Hennessee (1950-1985)
    David Hennessee (1942- , Don't know why I was in the picture, as I have zero skills (My wife, Mimi, will not believe that this is me in this picture taken in the early 1980's)
    Brother Fred (1950-1985)
    Brother Fred (1950-1985)
    Modeling for "Harbor Magazine", October-November Edition, 1980
    Another Modeling Picture...
    Another Modeling Picture...
    Fred's Self-Portrait
    Fred's Self-Portrait
    28 Feb 1979
    Fred's Watercolor...
    Fred's Watercolor...
    Cousin Martha Millsaps, mam1280@gmail.com, submitted Fred's watercolor May 19, 2016 and uploaded May 20, 2016
    Fred a la Magritte
    Fred a la Magritte

    René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images.

    Fred's dear friend, Claudine Laabs (1945-2016), made this photograph for him about 1979.
    'Fredmobile'
    "Fredmobile"

    Photographed and contributed by his friend, Monte Abramson, July 9th, 2017
    Brother Fred
    Brother Fred
    Photo taken on the beach sometime in the late 70's.

    This picture was provided by Maggie Dew, a genuine, bonda-fide, ty-died 1960's "Flower Child" and a loving, dear friend to Fred. She sent this photo yesterday, August 12th, 2017 and I've uploaded it Sunday, August 13th, 2017
    Brother Fred in Germany...
    Brother Fred in Germany...
    I think he took a trip to Germany sometime in the early 70's and I think this was in Bremenhaven. I remember asking him why this northern, coastal city - I had hoped he would of travelled South to the mountains...

    This picture was provided by Maggie Dew, a genuine, bonda-fide, ty-died 1960's "Flower Child" and a loving, dear friend to Fred. She sent this photo yesterday, August 12th, 2017 and I've uploaded it Sunday, August 13th, 2017
    Fred's 30th Birthday T-Shirt
    Fred's 30th Birthday T-Shirt
    A Self Portrait
    A Self Portrait

    Headstones
    Fred's Footstone
    Fred's Footstone
    Located in Mount View Cemetery, Warren County, Tennessee

  • Notes 
    • Great sense of humor. A devoted brother. Tall, 6'3" and Hennessee-blue-eyes. Loved music and was active in the music industry. Graduated college with a business degree. Very creative and enjoyed all of the arts very much. Fred Lived down the street from me and we saw each other everyday...we were very close.

      Fred was killed by a drunk driver in the afternoon of December 5, 1985.

      We buried him on his 35th birthday...DAH.

      "The Southern Standard", December 9, 1985:

      "Fred Byars Hennessee, 35, a resident of West Palm Beach, Fla., was fatally injured in an autobile accident in West Palm Beach Thursday.

      The body is being brought to Warren County for burial. Graveside services will be conducted today a 2 p.m. at Mt. View Cemetery with Jerry Hennessee officiating.

      A native of Detroit, Mich., Mr. Hennessee, who was single, was a son of Bert A. Hennessee and Lucille Byars Hennessee of West Palm Beach, formerly of this area.

      Surviving, in addition to the parents, are a brother, David A. Hennessee, also of West Palm Beach, and four aunts, and uncle and several nieces and nephews of the McMinnville area.

      Local arrangements are by Love-Cantrell & Cope Funeral Home."

      Miami Herald, The (FL) - December 7, 1985
      Deceased Name: HENNESSEE, Fred B.
      HENNESSEE, Fred B., 34, of 2018 Florida Ave., West Palm Beach, died Thursday. Services 2 p.m. today, Thomas L. Price Funeral Home, North Palm Beach.
      Copyright (c) 1985 The Miami Herald

      8.6.2011 http://www.rbhshornets.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=1903094

      I am glad that Fred's friends remember him. I met him at FAU and we were good friends, (as I remain close with his older brother David to this day). Fred was in his Fiat on Congress Ave, waiting at the light (the cross street was either Forest Hill Blvd or 10th in West Palm). A drunken women plowed into the Fiat's driver's side. Fred was rushed to Good Sam. Hospital, was in a coma, and died six hours later never regaining consciousness. Fred loved Florida, brought the Rolling Stones to the speedway and was a local Head Hunter before going into telephone sales. Before he died, he had found an inner peace and felt that his life was in order. Thanks again for remembering our friend. -unnamed writer

      6.2.2009

      Robert Jordan Fred Hennessee, or just Fred as everyone called him, was part of the surfer crowd.. always sun burnt and bleached blonde. I remember around 1966, when we were in the 10th or 11th grade, Fred was attacked by a shark while waiting for a wave to swell.. the shark bit his arm I think and he wore an arm bandage and sling, and he was quite proud of it.. After graduation, I don't know where he went to college but I think he worked in Palm Beach. And when I was home for a long Christmas break in 1980, Dave Rubinson told me that Fred had died in his Porsche while sitting at a red light in Palm Beach near the Breakers Hotel.. and I'm not sure when in 1980 that was, maybe the summer. What I recall hearing was a speeding drunk driver failed to brake in time and hit him from behind totaling his Porsche 911 and killing him on the spot. He wasn't 30 years old. Porsches were well known as death traps. More I can't tell you. This is all from what I recall Rubinson told me. And Dave Rubinsons', my best friend in college, word was his bond. I don't know where he was interned.. but I'm sure he's waiting for the perfect wave somewhere.. over there.
      6.2.2009

      Debbie Miller Wert I agree you cannot think of Fred without seeing him on his surf board, they seemed to go hand in hand. I could have sworn it was his foot or ankle that got bit by the shark...guess my mind is getting older than I thought. Debbie Miller Wert


      6.6.2009

      Robert Jordan Hi Debbie, Thanks for adding your memories of Fred. We weren't friends, he was in the surfer clique, which I had no access to. Robert didn't surf LOL. But, if my memory serves me, it was his right arm.. that was bitten. I think it happened down by the Pump House or The Ship, The Greek cargo ship aka the Amaryliss (sp?) which went aground during Hurricane Betsy over Labor Day weekend in 1965. That much I remember well, we lost a day of school, had to start the fall semester late! And even tho I didn't know Fred that well, I did talk to him about his shark attack.. Of course there were witnesses out there that day.. most of the surfer crowd, and they were sitting on their boards waiting for a wave.. when either a Nurse or Sand shark attacked him. Had it been a huge shark such as a Great White, which were probably not native to Florida waters, he wouldn't have lived to tell the story.. and as he told it he was just sitting there and then began to paddle when he was attacked.. He was out of school for a day or so then showed up with his arm bandaged and in a sling. When I asked him about it he just shrugged.. if you didn't know him well, he could be a bit removed. When I heard about his car crash in late 1980, I thought oh my Lord poor Fred.. like on his surf board, he was just sitting in his Porsche waiting for a light to change.. A wave or a light, same thing.. something was out to get him. I don't know what happened to the drunk driver. But I hope he was arrested and charged with not only DWI, but whatever the law could throw at him, so he either did time, or never drove a car again.












  • Sources 
    1. [S5] Lucile Byars Hennessee (1918-2008) | Personal Knowledge | Interviewed 10 Oct 1999.

    2. [S12211] "Fred Byars Hennessee", Cemetery Profile, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Hennessee&GSiman=1&GScid.

    3. [S12210] David A. Hennessee, HENNESSEE Researcher & Compiler, updated this record May 9th, 2017, 626 Biscayne Drive,West Palm Bea.

    4. [S7] "Warren County,Tennessee Cemetery Book 3 - Macedonia Cemetery to Mullican, p. 109.

    5. [S51875] http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Hennessee&GSiman=1&GScid=16038&GRid=86453175&.

    6. [S7902] DeKalb Co.,TN Marriage Book:1901-1950, compiled by Jorene Washer Parsley, p. 219 (Reliability: 3).

    7. [S8770] "Hogg DNA Project - A List of Hogg Lines", line VA1657: descendants of John Hogg of New Kent Co. VA, http://hdhdata.org/.

    8. [S12218] "Lucile Byars", Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002", https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNHJ-SDR, revisi.

    9. [S12207] "Burt Hennessee", 1940 Davidson County, Tennessee Census Record, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K442-LFP, revisit.

    10. [S30] David A. Hennessee, HENNESSEE Researcher & Compiler, 626 Biscayne Drive,West Palm Beach,FL 33401, 561.832.6612, info@c.