Life is good for 91-year-old WWII veteran

Kyt · Jan 30, 2008

Good for him

Early riser: Life is good for 91-year-old WWII veteran : Banner : Naples Daily News

Every morning, he’s there like clockwork at 7 a.m. He lifts weights, stretches and does balance exercises to keep himself flexible and mobile. His arms are noticeably muscular from months of regular exercise. For some, that’s unremarkable — the Bonita Springs YMCA is packed with early risers anxious to get their workouts in. But to many, Lou Frejlach is an inspiration. After all, he recently turned 91, and yet his exercise program puts many people half his age to shame.

“He’s an inspiration, that’s for sure,” said Ryan Fiene, the personal trainer who works with him twice each week on a vigorous program. “I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s constantly making sure I don’t go easy on him! I get no breaks.”

Frejlach has never been one to take life sitting down. A World War II transport pilot and lifelong aviator, his advancing age means very little to him. In fact, he stopped flying only recently due to a pacemaker.

“I could still fly, though,” said Frejlach. “And I would, but I’d have to have someone else in the cockpit with me. And besides, I sold my plane and there are other things to do.”

Flying, however, has defined his life for decades. He’s re-built two AT-6 training planes, as well as a B-51 after the war. Later, he went on to donate a fully restored 1937 Fairchild 24 to an experimental aircraft museum in Osh Kosh, Wis. He’s flown across the Atlantic to Europe in a Cessna 310 with a friend and also flew to sub-arctic Alaska. And until a few years ago, he kept a plane in the Naples airport for jaunts to the Caribbean.

Spurred by a fascination with aircraft, Frejlach began taking lessons in 1937, well before flying was common or even easy. An early career flying with Consolidated Aircraft led him to become a transport pilot for high-profile and critical personnel in World War II. He initially delivered the flying boats that gained Consolidated its early reputation. An early form of seaplane, the boats were designed to penetrate areas where landing would have been otherwise impossible.

“There weren’t enough airfields for people to land back then,” said Frejlach, “so I’d deliver a flying boat to its destination and fly back on PanAm. Eventually, things got more organized and we moved into an air transport command. And oh, I loved it.”

The transport involved carting key personnel and cargo into the South Pacific, often into the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Soloman Islands. The passengers were anywhere from high-profile military members to GI technicians and medics.

“Have you ever heard of Eleanor Roosevelt?” asked Frejlach with a laugh. “Someone in our group flew her in.”

After the military, he continued to fly, eventually branching into the restaurant business and later, a life of service on various boards. He’s retired now, after a career managing restaurants in the Big Boy chain outside of Chicago. It’s a career he gave up at 55 to focus on the things that really matter to him. After selling out, he joined the board of a local hospital and became an active member of the school board.

“I had been given a lot in my life, and I’ve always thought that if you’ve been given, you should give back,”

he said.

It’s an ironic attitude for a man who has lost almost as much as he’s gained. Married to his high school sweetheart, June, whom he met in the first grade, he was heartbroken when he lost her and later, his second spouse, Betty, with whom he’d bought his first condo on Vanderbilt Beach.

“I had two very, very good marriages,” said Frejlach. “I wanted them both to last forever, but life doesn’t always work out that way, does it?”

He also suffered the loss of two sons, and has a daughter with continuing health problems. His own health took a darker turn when he underwent aortic valve replacement 17 years ago.

Instead of giving up, Frejlach soldiered on, improving his life and undergoing a rigorous exercise program to stay in shape. It’s a philosophy he wishes more people his age would consider.

“If elderly people would try to get into an exercise program outside of their home, I can’t believe it wouldn’t benefit them,” said Frejlach. “You’re around people of all ages at a facility like the YMCA, and older people should really take the time to see that younger people, very often, aren’t what older people think they are. Maybe if they got out, they’d have a nice outlook on the world in general.”

Steven Slachta, fitness director for the YMCA, is amazed at Frejlach’s outlook.

“He’s here every day he can. Every day. And he’s pleasant and just a tremendous joy to be around. You don’t meet people like him every day,” said Slachta.

For his part, Frejlach has no problem viewing the world through a rosy lens, despite the challenges he’s faced in life.

“Isn’t it nice to get up and see the daylight? There’s still a brightness in the world. There is still good. There is still a future. I’m still interested in living every day and seeing where it takes me.”
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Antipodean Andy · Jan 30, 2008

Evidence that a positive outlook goes a long way!

Nostalgair · Jan 30, 2008

I guess I have something to aim for now!

Cheers

Owen

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Life is good for 91-year-old WWII veteran

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