COLONEL FREDERICK HAROLD HEMPHILL, JR., USMC

Born: December 28, 1939
Died: January 19, 2014

Fred Hemphill was the son of Frederick Harold Hemphill and Rebecca Elizabeth Tippett Hemphill. He was born in Amarillo, Texas. Fred's father worked for the Santa Fe Railroad so the family moved frequently. As a result, Fred attended high schools in Whittier, California, Evanston, Illinois and Oceanside, New York.

Fred entered Yale in 1957 with the class of 1961 in the 5 year engineering program and was a member of NROTC. He graduated with our class with a Mechanical Engineering degree and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. At Yale Fred was a member of Berkeley College where he served as snack bar manager and on the council. He was also Berkeley football captain and on the basketball team. He played lacrosse (J.V.) and was a member of Chi Phi.

Fred maintained dual class membership with both '61 and '62.

In his essay for our 50th Reunion Book, Fred wrote of his military and post-military careers.

I did not plan on a career in the military (My obligated 4 years and on to law school was my plan).

However, when I went to Vietnam in 1965 as a Marine First Lieutenant, I found that the Vietnamese in the hamlets and villages were grateful for the protection we provided from the Viet Cong and NVA and for the medical and humanitarian support (admittedly limited) we could provide. I also found that I liked the dedication, integrity, and honor of the Marine officers and enlisted men (and later, women) I worked with. So I stayed.

Not a popular choice at the time, of course, and Yale further alienated me by kicking ROTC off campus. But I have never regretted my choice. In fact, I found that in the pursuit of my civilian careers (the second half of my professional life), my Yale degree got me in the door, but my Marine Corps experiences made me successful.

I regretted that Yale opted out of the discourse on the role of the military in our society and, by extension, on its role in our international policy and strategy. I along with many others have been discouraged by the apparent lack of participation by career State Department and other government professionals in formal courses of study in international policy and strategy. We continue to stumble in the international area, in no small part because we fail to articulate our national interests.

Fred and his wife June married in May 1967. She was a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. They had 2 children, David born in 1970, who now lives in Jackson, Wyoming, and Lauren Hemphill Strover, born in 1983, who resides with her husband Jason in Townsend, Delaware.

Fred and June retired to Little Rock, Arkansas. In the words of his daughter Lauren, "my mother's family lived in Little Rock, so after many years of moving with the Marine Corp., my mother got to pick their final move." In retirement Fred pursued his hobby of woodworking, particularly making wooden puzzle boxes and even furniture. He was an avid soccer fan and coached both children when they were young and played himself well into his 50s.

His thoughtful essay in our 50th Reunion Book concluded with the hope for "some form of universal public service and the many forms it might take - Habitat for Humanity, medical service, Peace Corps, military, etc. I hope the class of '62 continues this discussion."

Daughter Lauren remembers her father as "truly a wonderful man. He is sincerely missed. My brother and I are the luckiest people in the world to have had him as our dad. Since his passing, I've received many e-mails from former colleagues from Yale, Marine Corps and the corporate world telling me how he impacted their lives. We always knew he was a special person, but to hear it from complete strangers only reinforces that."

Fred is survived by June and his 2 children. His ashes are to be interred in the Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Pennsylvania with full military honors.

The Class of 1962 extends thanks to Lauren Hemphill Strover for help with her father's obituary.