Charles Fromer, a southside Indianapolis resident, turns 100 today. Fromer lived through the Great Depression, served in Europe during World War II and worked for more than 40 years at Dow Chemical. Friends and family will celebrate him during an open house on Saturday. RYAN TRARES | DAILY JOURNAL
The past 100 years come back with clarity.
Charles Fromer could tell tales for days — about his youth working on a farm outside of Greensburg, about his World War II service at places such as Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, about rising up the ranks of Dow Chemical in finance.
He can recall the tours he led at the Scottish Rite Cathedral as a volunteer for two decades, working part-time as a butcher while going to college and the first time he shot a hole-in-one on the golf course.
Fromer’s mind is sharp, and he relives his life story with a smile on his face.
“I’ve had a good life. I’ve enjoyed myself all of these years,” he said.
The southside Indianapolis celebrates his centennial today. In his long lifetime, he’s survived the depths of the Great Depression, earned four battle stars with the U.S. Army Air Corp in World War II, toiled for 18 years earning his college degree and worked for more than 40 years in finance and accounting.
On Saturday, friends and family will gather in Southport in recognition of 100 years. Being able to look back at his life with the people he loves will be special.
“It’s going to be good. I have a lot of good friends who will be there,” he said.
Fromer was born on Sept. 2, 1922, in Letts, a rural outpost south of Greensburg. He was the youngest of five children, and his family moved around to different farms in the area. Attending school in Greensburg, he was bright and motivated.
Despite that fact, he did go through a rough patch of behavior, he said.
“I had 13 whippings in 13 days. You know, I could never figure out why,” he said, laughing.
Upon reflection, Fromer attributes the blip to a tragedy that visited his family when was 8 years old — his mother was killed in a train accident. His father, who was working full-time, was concerned about how to raise the children. The possibility existed that they would have to go to the Masonic Home in Franklin to live, he said.
But his father remarried, and they were able to stay on her farm, he said.
Fromer continued to attend school in Greensburg through high school, and graduated third in his class of 72 students in 1940. He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school.
With World War II starting, he tried to enlist in the U.S. Navy, only to be rejected because he was color-blind. Instead, he continued to work at a hamburger shop in Greensburg before being drafted in the Army Air Corp in 1943.
Fromer’s first choice in the Air Corp was administrative specialist and his second preference, a mechanic.
“When I interviewed, they said I couldn’t have (administrative specialist), and I asked why? He told me I scored a perfect aptitude in my mechanics test,” he said. “So I had to take it.”
Training took him from Miami Beach, Florida, to Colorado to Texas, before his unit shipped out for Europe. He was stationed on a ship in a convoy of nine ships, traveling treacherous waters up the coast of the U.S. and across the North Atlantic.
Fromer celebrated his 21st birthday off the coast of Greenland, and shortly after, ran into a terrible storm.
“They were taking bets if we were going to make it or not,” he said. “The life rafts broke loose, and everything. After we landed in Liverpool, we asked the merchant marines how bad that storm was. They said if we would have rolled one more foot, we would have capsized.”
During his time in Europe, Fromer served with the 9th Air Force, arriving at Omaha Beach in Normandy 14 days after the D-Day invasion in 1944. His unit moved to Reims, where the treaty to end the war in Europe was eventually signed, before going to Northern Germany.
Though his unit was supposed to move to the fighting in Pacific, the war ended before they could. Instead, Fromer was sent to Camp Atterbury for a few months in 1945.
“I was one point away from getting a discharge, so we worked there proofreading discharges until I got mine,” he said.
Fromer married his longtime sweetheart, Winnie, in 1945, and they had two daughters, Sierra and Charla. Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, he attended college, first at a business school, then Indiana University extension campus in Indianapolis before transferring to Butler University.
Fromer had been hired in the accounting and finance department for Pittman-Moore Pharmaceutical Co., which later became part of Dow Chemical. He slowly earned his degree over 18 years while working full-time, finally earning it in 1965 — the same year Sierra graduated from high school.
“I had a final the night of her graduation ceremony,” he said. “I left Butler at 8 o’clock, and by 8:30 I was sitting in the Southport High School gym.”
Fromer’s time with Dow Chemical saw him rise to business manager of the consumer products department over more than 40 years. When he had the opportunity to retire early, he planned to take it. His boss gave his blessing, on the condition he stayed on for six more months to train his replacement and other business managers on computers.
“Those six months were the happiest time of my time with them,” he said. “I could come in to work, and if they didn’t have anything, I was back home.”
After retirement, Fromer kept busy — working with his church, Southport Baptist Church, staying active the Masonic Lodge, volunteering at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, serving on his neighborhood’s homeowners association and of course, golfing.
He had a group of 24 friends that he regularly golfed with. In his 80s, he hit his first hole-in-one. And the game served as a bond between him and one of his grandsons.
“One time we were playing, and I shot and got an eagle. He was already on the green, and he was up there jumping up and down,” Fromer said. “So he bought me a plaque for getting that.”
Even as he turns 100, Fromer lives an independent life. He lives in the same house he has for the past 25 years, drives himself to his appointments and fixes his own meals.
Other than needing a walker to move around, he feels good.
“I’ve really enjoyed my life,” he said.
IF YOU GO
Charles Fromer 100th birthday open house
When: 2-4 p.m. Sept. 3
Where: One Christian Church, 2901 E. Banta Road, Indianapolis. The event is in the fellowship hall, on the lower level. Enter at the east entrance.
