Fred Hunneke, who passed away Friday, was a lot of things to a lot of people — a Marine, a job-creator, a friend.
“There are not many Fred Hunnekes in this state,” said Lenoir Community College business manager Bruce Parson, who helped plan a banquet in Hunneke’s honor in July. “He was just head-and-shoulders above most.”
Hunneke served in World War II and Korea, and while stationed at Camp Lejeune, would visit Kinston. He founded Domestic Fibers in New Jersey in 1955 and in 1968 moved its operations to Kinston. He stepped away from the company’s presidency in 2009 when it was bought out and renamed Domestic Fibers and Blankets, but he still remained closely involved in the business’ operations.
“He was a giving man,” Parson said. “He was concerned about the community. He was concerned about people having jobs. And, he spent his entire career making sure that there were jobs available to people that had benefits, good working conditions.
“And then he gave to things like United Way, Boys and Girls Club, Scouts — all the things that he felt were necessary to have a community to raise a family in.”
In August 2010, Hunneke and seven close friends founded the Eight Eighties, a group of war veterans over 80 years old who gathered to create jobs and help the economy while providing assistance to veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As Hunneke told The Free Press in 2011, “(We) are convinced that God hasn’t kept (us) here just to take up space while (we) wait to die.”
The group sells a C-shirt made from a fabric that keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter, which is manufactured in North Carolina for purchase at places like the Army and Navy war colleges. For each shirt sold, they donate one to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune or to the Wounded Warrior Barracks at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The Fred Hunneke Appreciation Banquet on July 18 drew 270 people and raised $2,700 for the Wounded Warrior Team.
“Fred was one of the sweetest, kindest, dedicated human beings I think I’ve ever known in my life,” said Lucy Marston, tourism director for the Kinston-Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Department. “It has been one of the joys in my life to have known Fred and Anneleise. Fred will be so missed by many, many, many people — Fred will be just exquisitely missed by this community as a whole.”
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.