Grainger, Frederick Bertel, Rev.
​Lake Echo, NS
May 26, 1947 - June 26, 2025
“Three cheers for Coach Fred!”
On the 26th of June, Frederick Grainger of Lake Echo passed away after a brief yet difficult battle with a very aggressive brain tumour at Twin Oaks Memorial Hospital in Musquodoboit Harbour.
Coach Fred. Revered Fred. Freddie. Dad. Grampy. Fred went by several names, and he wore them all with equal dignity. It is difficult to pinpoint just one or two aspects of his life as there were so many.
Born 26th of May 1947 in Dartmouth NS to T.W. Bertel and Katherine (nee Wournell) Grainger, he was one of five siblings. He grew up swimming and boating in Lake Mic Mac and Lake Banook, he was a paperboy in Dartmouth, and had an early love of all things musical and mechanical. Like many of his generation, Fred left school early to start working. He was employed at HMC Dockyard as a Red Seal machinist for thirty-two years. Half of that time was spent working in the optics shop, repairing periscopes for the Canadian Navy. He was active in his union and was its president for many years. It was nearly impossible to go anywhere in Halifax or Dartmouth without running into a co-worker. Each of those interactions clearly proved that he was well loved and respected by everyone he had worked with.
On his twentieth birthday at a dance in Dartmouth, Fred danced the night away with a young lady named Heather Gail Dunn. He walked her home when the dance was over. When he woke the next morning, he told his mother that he had met the woman whom he was going to marry. Fred and Heather married on 4th of July 1970 and remained devoted to each other until her passing in 2017. Fred and Heather loved doing everything together: Bowling, watching baseball, coaching softball, golfing, singing and playing music, going to dances, and later going on cruises. Fred and Heather moved to Lake Echo shortly after getting married where they raised their two children, Angela and Andrew, and they became pillars of the community. Fred was just as respected and loved in his community as he was at the Dockyard. He ended up building three houses, and a Church in Lake Echo.
A devoted Anglican his entire life, Fred grew up attending Christ Church in Dartmouth. Upon moving to Lake Echo, he and Heather attended St Mark’s Anglican Church in Porter’s Lake. He and Heather saw the need for an Anglican Church in Lake Echo. Thanks to the help of many Diocean members, and a lot of fundraising, their dream became a reality when St Augustine's Anglican Church was successfully permitted, built, and consecrated; becoming the fifth Church in the Parish of Seaforth in 1982. To say that he hammered every nail and sawed every single board would be a bit of an exaggeration. He did however, do most of the designing, and created the blueprints, and acted as the unofficial foreman during its construction. Forty years later, when St Augustine’s was deconsecrated and sold, though saddened, he did not let it interrupt his faith, and he continued to serve the Parish of Seaforth without a second thought.
Ten years after retiring from the Dockyard, Fred heard the calling. He was always a dedicated parishioner, and regularly served on committees and the Parish council, but the call was too strong to ignore. He was ordained a Deacon in the Anglican Church on the 14th of May 2013 and a Minister on the 6th of December 2013. Rev. Fred would regularly officiate two services each Sunday, and was always on call to visit parishioners who were ill, or in hospital. He would give them their communion, he would pray with them, but more importantly, he would visit and talk with them. Fred would even drive parishioners to doctors appointments if there was no one else available. He would also regularly travel outside of the Parish and preach at Churches in Tangier, Ship Harbour, and even in Fairview. These parishioners always looked at it as a blessing when Rev. Fred came to their Church. Fred presided over countless marriages, baptisms, and funerals. Notably, he officiated the wedding of his son, and the renewal of vows for his daughter, and also baptised one of his great-grandchildren. It is worth noting that Rev. Fred did not accept any payment for his service to the Church; doing God’s work only for the love of his Faith.
When not wearing a robe and collar, Fred regularly wore a baseball cap and glove. He was known to countless children in his community as Coach Fred. Fred began coaching children’s softball in 1981 when his children started to play. He went on to coach for another thirty five years. In that time he literally taught generations of children how to play the sport: teaching several children of his earlier players. Though he acted as president of the local softball league for roughly twenty years, it was teaching the little ones to play that he loved the most, often coaching numerous teams of various ages each summer. Coach Fred coached thousands of games over the years. He ended every single game the same way: win or lose he always demanded that his players give Three Cheers to the opposing team. Each game that Fred coached, his devoted wife Heather was also the scorekeeper.
To say that Fred loved music would be an understatement. He learned to play trombone as a child, and moved on to guitar as a teenager, and fiddle as a young man. He loved 50s and 60s Rock & Roll and Country music the most, notably being a fan of Buddy Holly, The Beachboys, Abba, and especially Johnny Cash. Whenever asked what was his favourite Johnny Cash song to play on guitar, he would simply shrug and say, “All of them.” He taught guitar lessons to children and adults in the basement of his house for many years in Lake Echo. It was his support that convinced his wife Heather to learn to play the organ for St Augustine’s, which she did for its entirety. Fred instituted and directed the Lake Echo Community Singers, and was a member of the Dartmouth City of Lakes Barbershop Chorus for more than thirty years, of which he was also their treasurer. He also spent two years singing with the Coastal Voices Men’s Choir. Every year on Good Friday at the Church, he would sing ‘Were you there they Crucified my Lord’ unaccompanied. His rich deep bass voice would practically shake the rafters of the Church, and send shivers up everyone’s spines.
A faithful blood donor; Fred had donated more than 150 pints of blood in his lifetime. While he used to joke, saying that the only reason he became a blood donor was to get a half day off of work, the fact that he continued to donate blood well into his retirement proved that that was not really the truth. Though in his old age, it was suggested that his iron levels were getting too low to continue, that did not stop him from signing up as an organ donor. Even during the care at the end of his life, he volunteered to be part of a study into his illness, agreeing to give nearly daily blood samples.
Fred regularly donated to numerous charities including: The MS Society, The Canadian Cancer Society, The Red Cross, Soul’s Harbour Rescue Mission, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Fred is survived by his sister Evelyn Smith; his sisters-in-law Joan Dunn, and Nancy Grainger; his daughter Angela Wertman (Eric); his son Andrew (Andrea), his five grandsons: Stephen Grainger, Isaac Grainger (Alison), Allister Wertman (Peyton), Adam Grainger (Kirsten), and Owen Grainger (Marissa); his one and only granddaughter, Katherine Wertman; numerous nieces and nephews; and his three great-granddaughters: Willow, Elizabeth, and Madeliene Grainger.
Fred was pre-deceased by his loving wife Heather, his parents, his brothers David and Bill, and his angelic sister Joyce.
Viewing will take place on Thursday the 10th of July at Christ Church in Downtown Dartmouth (Time TBA). A funeral service will be held on Friday the 11th of July at Christ Church at 10:00am with reception to follow. The internment will be for immediate family only.
Donations in Fred’s memory may be made to All Apostles by the Sea Anglican Church, the Dartmouth City of Lakes Men’s Chorus, or one or more of the many charities listed above. Making a blood donation in his memory would be a most fitting tribute as well.
The Grainger and Wertman family wish to express their sincere gratitude to the many nurses and care workers at Twin Oaks Memorial Hospital in Musquodobout Harbour; especially Sherri, Chelsea and Kirk. Their dedication and devotion to his care gave him so much dignity and comfort at the end of his life, and made it much more bearable for his family. Thank you so much.
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