Frederick Hughes Sasse

Frederick (Fred) Hughes Sasse’ of Crossville, TN died June 15, 2024, two days shy of the 63rd anniversary of his marriage to Catherine (Kitty) Vivona Sasse’. He was 87 years old and passed away after a long illness. Fred leaves behind his wife, Kitty (Crossville, TN), his daughters Sherry (John) Norton (Carmel, IN) and Michelle (Bradley) Fiscus (Fort Washington, MD), and his grandchildren Mare’ Elisabeth Fiscus and Collins Robert Fiscus, also of Fort Washington, MD. His father, Frank Sasse’, and mother, Nellie Field Sasse’ Smack, as well as his only sibling, Frank Field Sasse’, preceded him in death. Fred was born in Newark, NJ in 1937 and grew up just a few blocks from his future wife, although he didn’t know it at the time. Fred spent his 41-year career at one company, Union Carbide Corporation, although it changed hands and names several times over those decades. He started in the photo lab while working his way through night school at the Newark College of Engineering (now the New Jersey Institute of Technology) to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. His career took him around the country and around the world, and it’s where he met Kitty. In 1961, while on their honeymoon, Fred and Kitty heard on the radio that his New Jersey Air National Guard unit (108th Air Police Squadron, US Air Force) was being deployed to Chaumont, France as a result of the Cuban missile crisis. He returned one year later, resuming life with Kitty and his work at Union Carbide. Fred was an avid golfer, playing well into his 80s and often meeting his goal of shooting his age. He also enjoyed fishing, woodworking, vegetable gardening, and traveling. A lifelong Catholic, he was a member of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Crossville. No funeral service will be held, as the family plans to gather for an intimate celebration of life at a later time. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Fred’s memory to Cumberland Hospice House, Crossville, Tennessee.