Fred Camin passed away early this week and was laid to rest this morning. Barbara and I have been recalling these last few days how when Fred came into the office everything else stopped. Fred has made his living producing carnivals for Catholic parishes throughout Long Island and he was an entertainer to the core. Since he was Community Presbyterian's treasurer he came around a lot - to pick up bills, to deliver checks, to offer his opinions on church management, to tell us there was no money left.
Fred never considered himself spiritual or religious but he was a man of deep faith. Before he'd come to Community Presbyterian he'd been treasurer at Canarsie Reformed Church in Brooklyn and was absolutely committed to keeping small churches alive - or at least present in their neighborhoods. He used to tell me: "We can't let this congregation close because every time a church closes and their steeple comes down the presence of God is no longer visible in the neighborhood."
Fred was deaf as a door post so I would just let him talk - no point in arguing, even when he wanted to slash the mission budget. After he'd left, I would send him an email in response. Fred always checked his email - but he hated to type. So a few days later he'd come back in and give me the response to my email. Then I'd email him again, and we'd go round this way. It was truly a great way to have a conversation.
A little over a year ago Fred and Margaret sold their house in Valley Stream and moved out east to Bayshore. Margaret is still there. Pray for her.
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I stumbled upon the old post by accident, and I take very much offense to this post. Besides the incorrect information, you called him "deaf as a door post."
It is not kind to speak ill of the dead, nor wise.
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