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Frederick Otto Troger, 88, of Silver Spring, MD formerly from Detroit, MI passed away on January 11, 2020 at his home. He was born on April 14, 1931 in Detroit, MI and was the loving son of the late Erma Van Troostenberghe Troger and Alfred Troger. Fred was the loving husband of Helena Pat Troger whom he married on July 4, 1955 in St. Mary’s County, MD. Fred is survived by his children Cathy Carter (Scott) of Burtonsville, MD, Joann Syrokosz (Steve) of St. Mary’s, KS, 15 grandchildren, and 24 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister Rosemary Holzhauer.

Fred graduated from St. Ambrose in 1949 and attended the University of Detroit. Fred lived in Detroit until he joined the Navy in 1951. He was stationed at Pax River and had a blind date with Patsy Downs. Patsy’s mother said he must be ok since he was Catholic. They married after he was honorably discharged from the Navy. Fred brought Pat to Detroit and then Dearborn where they lived until Fred retired in 1994. Fred initially worked at Continental Aviation which eventually moved to Toledo. The family did not want to move so he started working for Ford as a test engineer and retired in 1994.
Fred and Pat moved to Culpeper, VA for a short time but that was too far away from Pat’s family in Southern Maryland and from his daughter Cathy’s family in Burtonsville. Fred and Pat bought a house in La Plata and lived there until they moved to Riderwood in 2009. Fred was not crazy about Riderwood at first but knew it would be a good place for them in the future, and it was only a few miles from Burtonsville. Fred and Pat made lots of friends there. Fred played pinochle and pool every week, and joined the ham radio club. Fred’s call letters for many years were K8TKC which Pat said stood for K8 Tender Kissing Catholic. Fred had those call letters on his license plate.
Fred and Pat traveled all around the US and to other countries as well. Fred also took a trip with his nephew Phil to Australia. In addition to vacation travels, Fred and Pat took many trips to Kansas to visit Joann and her ever growing family. Joann says she appreciated Fred helping with tuition for her 13 children to attend Catholic school. Joann also fondly remembers the banana seat bike her dad gave her, to which he added a small motor. Most of the neighbors were ok with this “motorcycle” but there were a few who didn’t like the noise. Joann also remembers when her dad would take her shopping to buy a present for her mom, and buy her M&Ms which he told her to keep quiet about.
That brings us to dad’s hobby of riding motorcycles. He got his first one when he was 14, and he had at least one ever since Cathy and Joann can remember. Every couple of years he would buy a larger one. One year he bought a 1949 Harley 3 wheeler and used it to drive all the neighbor kids around, and he drove it on the ice on Lake St. Clair. Fred took the family on weekends to watch “hill climb” motorcycle races. Fred also went on lots of motorcycle trips with his nephew Mike, and Cathy remembers more than one time when her dad had a hard time pulling his boots off a black and blue ankle from leaning too far into a curve. Cathy also remembers when her dad took her to a Tiger game on a motorcycle. It started to rain so they pulled off onto the shoulder of I-94 under a bridge. The bike kind of went sideways and Cathy’s pants ripped and her knee was scraped up. They returned home to get the car and for Cathy to change and she was told to get in and out of the house without her mom seeing her knee. Dad was also a lucky rider because when he was T-boned by a car one time he did two summersaults and leaded on his feet. However, his pristine Honda Silver Wing was totaled. Pat went on regular rides with Fred and he bought them matching helmets for their 25th wedding anniversary. They also loved riding their snowmobiles at their cottage “up North” at Forest Lake.
Fred was very handy and had a workshop in the basement where he fixed TVs and some small appliances. He even fixed his own huge flat screen TV last year.

Fred loved music, mostly jazz, and he frequently attended Navy Band concerts.
Fred was a loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, neighbor and friend. He helped family, neighbors and friends, especially while living at Riderwood. After all, he was still driving, even at night! There will be a service at Riderwood later in January or in February so all his friends there can attend.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, January 16, 2020 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery Bushwood, MD, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1:30 PM with Father Samuel Plummer officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Scott Carter, Jack Carter, Joe Huseman, and James Downs.

There will be a service at Riderwood later in January or in February so all his friends there can attend.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Church of the Resurrection 3315 Green Castle Road Burtonsville, MD 20866, Riderwood Benevolent Care Fund, Philanthropy Department 3110 Gracefield Road Silver Spring, MD 20904 or the American Cancer Society.