Norbert P. Freund

Norbert P. Freund of Fairfield, CT, took his final breath on November 1, 2023. He was ushered into his new life with the Almighty—Creator of all things seen and unseen—by his Savior Jesus Christ and in the company of his wife, Alvina Jane, as well as friends from the Crossroads Community Church he and Jane attended together. Norbert was born May 21, 1942, in the German Batschka region of Hungary (modern-day Serbia) to German parents, Peter, an accomplished violinist and conductor of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, and Gertrude, daughter of a wealthy factory owner in the municipality of Werbass (Vrbas, Serbia). In Autumn of 1944, Gertrude, Norbert and his younger brother, Dietmar, were forced to flee from the Tito partisans and advancing Soviet army together with Gertrude’s younger brother, Karl, and their mother, Hermina. They survived hunger, cold, fire-bombings, and severe illness as they traveled West, believing it was better to run into the Americans than to face the Russians. After the war, the family was reunited in Austria before briefly settling in the village of Winnenden, Germany, north of Stuttgart. Having received an American visa after intense scrutiny by American occupational forces, the family emigrated to America, arriving aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth in Manhattan on a dreary, overcast December 7, 1949. Settling in Queens, Norbert entered the American school system in the second grade knowing only three words of English: yes, no, and shut-up. He attended Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, graduating 11th out of a class of over 900. While at Newtown, Norbert took advantage of a new scholarship program that encouraged Newtown graduates to study science and engineering at New York University. The scholarship funded his entire undergraduate degree, and although he claimed to be a self-taught man, he continued on to earn a Master of Science degree in optical physics from the NYU College of Engineering to learn what to teach himself.

Norbert married Alvina Jane—a graduate of Columbia School of Nursing—on September 4th, 1965. The newlyweds moved to Connecticut where Norbert found employment initially at Sikorsky Aircraft in 1965 before being hired in 1966 at the science and engineering firm that he really wanted to work for, Perkin-Elmer. Over the years, the particular division Norbert worked in was sold and traded numerous times – Silicon Valley Group, ASML. Norbert worked as a technical writer in that division until his retirement in June of 2021. He was 79 years old at retirement.

Norbert endeared himself to many. His friendly demeanor set others at ease, and his sincere interest in others made them feel welcome wherever he was.

Nobert is survived by his wife, Jane; brother, Dietmar with his wife Cvetana; children, Annelisa with her husband Kerry, Peter with his wife Stefanie, Daniel, and Kristina; grandchildren Carrie, Melinda with her husband Jackson, Peter, Mason, Oslo, and Verena. Melinda and Jackson are expecting their first child, a new generation for our family.

A Celebration of Life will be held on January 20th, 2024, from 2pm – 4pm at Crossroads Community Church (in the Grace Lutheran Church building), 150 Chapel St, Stratford, CT 06614.