CHS Bio 2008 Fred Benford aka Fast Freddy 1959 Fred s only claim to fame in the Tulsa schools was being elected 6 th grade Vice President. And then he was only elected because his girlfriend, Karen Bost, was President. The girls wanted him seated beside Karen in Assembly class so he could throw her kisses and put his arm around her. He made the girls giggle. Fred was very shy. His first kiss was from an older woman (he was 10, she was 11). After that Fred was mortally afraid to kiss any girl, including Julia Brand. After a dance in the 8 th grade Julia (class President) took him into her bedroom, closed the door grabbed his hand and they sat on her bed. Kissing was near, but her mother burst into the room loudly asking what are you two doing?? Fred went home as quickly as possible! Fred only had a few dates at CHS. He did ask out class Queen Dotty Westby, but she could not go she had a great excuse. She told Fred she was going to have brain surgery that weekend. Fred then turned his affections to his souped-up 1953 Vespa motor scooter and then to his souped-up and customized 1950 Chevy convertible. Fred did a little better in college. He finally got over his shyness. He ran for Vice President of the senior class at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. He was elected in a landside by a mere 3-votes! Then he ran for President of his dorm and won, was Expansion secretary of Phi Lambda Chi fraternity and was elected to a few other offices and in 1960 at Alpha Sigma Alpha s spring formal he was crowned Man of the Year 1960 warranting a large picture in the college annual. Fred did one semester of graduate work, found he was about to be drafted and joined the Army National Guard (ask him why he only made PFC after 7 ½ years). Afterwards Fred joined the American Red Cross as a Field Director at military installations. He was married for 88 days and left
for Japan & Okinawa for a 1-year tour without his bride. Then came a plum assignment in Hawaii. However in 1965 he volunteered to go to Viet Nam with front line troops as he felt the war going to be over in a matter of months. He was gone an additional 6-months without his wife. Yes he was shot at by the Viet Cong! He joined Bell & Howell in 1967 and became their top salesperson. Then on in 1973 to Vivitar in Southern California where he met his second wife and true love, Carol. Then on to the Automotive Aftermarket industry in various management positions, ranging from Director of Marketing for Wynn Oil Co. to V.P. of Marketing and GM of several other organizations. Soon after Fred arrived in the L.A. area he purchased a 1973 Yamaha 500 cc Twin. Of course, for Fred, it did not have enough power. He had it super tuned and then added a turbocharger (supercharger) yet the turbo was too large for the twin engine so he purchased a Honda 4-cylinder 550 cc as a new engine. It took a long time to build, but it would beat the 1000 cc bikes at the time. Fred geared it for acceleration more than top speed, turned it into a Fred & Carol 1974 café racer and went out on the streets looking for a race. The bike had a slight electrical problem and cut-out at 122 MPH. Then he found a new and fast for the time 750 cc Honda that tried to pass him. He down shifted and blew the Honda away going into a turn at 122 MPH and did not make it. Fortunately he always wore all the safety equipment you could get for the day, including a full face helmet, leather jacket, leather gloves, jeans and a high leather boots. The totally saved him from the terrible crash and Fred spent a week in the hospital with only a broken collar bone. He learned his lesson and the bike was rebuilt but has not run since 1981. queen, Dotty Westby. In 1981 red attended the 25 th CHS reunion. One of the questions asked was what was your desire in 1956 and your desire in 1981. My desire in 1956 was to kiss class queen Dotty Westby and my desire in 1981 was to kiss class queen Dotty Westby. Guess what my wish came true. The reunion chairman called me before the entire reunion and I got my life s desire to kiss the beautiful class (Down for more)
In 1991 Fred purchased a 1955 Chevy and proceeded to customize and soup it up the way he would have done it in 1955. He won many car show trophies and took it to the drag strip where he got the nickname Fast Freddy. The engine was a 406 CID small block with 400 HP. Boy would it burn rubber! Turned the quarter mile in the high 12 s at 108 MPH. In November of 1980 Fred and his wife Carol became born again Christians. Growing up in an unchurched and unbelieving family, Fred had no knowledge what-so-ever of the bible. In little over a year later Fred made a commitment to study the bible for 30-minutes a day. He purchased various sets of commentaries, highlighted the areas that stood out, and then typed them. He is has over 2,000 single spaced pages of notes for future study. Fred has been and Elder in his conservative Presbyterian Church and chairman of the Adult Christian Committee. He also attends up to five bible studies a week and is a trained bible teacher. Today Fred is retired and living in Palm Desert (Palm Springs area), CA. Fred s first love, his lovely wife Carol and Fred today.