Obituary

Fred passed away on January 30, 2018 joining his wife of 52 years Darby, as well as his daughter’s Denise Nea Muller and Tracy Nea. He is survived by his daughter’s Jennifer Celis (Charles Celis) and Nicole Everett (Patrick Everett), sister Dixie Magner (Jim Magner) and brother Charles Nea (Judy Nea); 9 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren: Tiffany Cavanagh (Chris Cavanagh) Kylie, Taylor, Graham; Brecken Celis-Iupeli (Drew Celis-Iupeli) Mason, Keoni, Thaliya; Natalie Celis Jaxon; Eric Muller (Maggie) Lucas, Trevor Muller (Caroline) Jefferson, Jake Celis (Hillary) Juliet; Chase Nea-Durham Macyn; Lauren Hudson (Jonathan Hudson) one on the way, and Chloe Everett.
Fred was born March 9, 1939 and grew up in Dexter, MO. After graduating Dexter high school in 1957, Fred worked for Stoddard County Missouri (civil engineering division), for a short time before enlisting into the Air Force in 1958. After boot camp, he was transferred to Williams Air Force base in Chandler Arizona, where he was a medic. While serving, he met the love of his life Darby Collard and they were married Feb 17, 1961 and made Arizona their home.
Fred retired after 32 years with Motorola. To say the least, he was a pioneer in the construction of cleanroom fabrication facilities for the semiconductor industry. Some of the facilities he helped lead were: MOS6 in Mesa, AZ, MOS11 in Austin, TX, MOS12 in Chandler, AZ, which still operates today as an integral clean manufacturing plant, MOS21 in Mesa, AZ, and his final project, Motorola’s water fabrication facility in Tianjin, China where he and Darby lived for a few years. Their China adventure was one of their most memorable adventures.
Fred was also involved throughout his career with the industry organization Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), which authored all the US Cleanroom Standards and Recommended Practices. Additionally, throughout his career, Fred was instrumental with Arizona State University Del E. Webb School of Construction and through the Alliance for Construction Excellence (ACE) was an advisor to the school technology programs. He was a founding member of CREATE (Construction Research and Education for Advanced technology Environments), which brought ASU recognition as a leading developer of Project Management Standards, Education, and Best Practices for specialty technology construction.
Fred was a visionary man of many things. He loved to draw his idea and bring them to life; for instance, designing his custom goose neck Camper-toy hauler (before toy haulers were a thing), refurbishing and customizing various automobiles and off-road vehicles. He was an automobile and plane enthusiast.
Fred loved to travel and enjoy the outdoors and the activities that came with it: camping, fishing, hunting, riding off road vehicles and spending quality time with his family. One of his favorite past times was watching the Arizona sunset with a glass of chardonnay from his home on the base of the Superstition Mountains. Fred will be greatly missed. Family and friends will always remember his love, compassion, selfless giving, and great stories that would always end in laughter.
If you would like to contribute a donation in Fred’s honor the following were charities close to Fred’s heart: Hospice of the Valley (1510 E. Flower St. Phoenix, AZ 85014-5656), St. Jude Children’s Hospital; The Apache Junction Food Bank (575 N. Idaho Rd. Suit 701 Apache Junction, AZ 85119) and Gold Canyon Methodist Church Food Bank (6640 S. Kings Ranch Road Gold Canyon, AZ 85118.