Fred Hentges

Fred Hentges was born in Altoona, PA on January 11, 1957. His family moved to Toledo, OH shortly thereafter where he attended Sacred Heart elementary school, Cardinal Stritch High School, and Owens Community College. At Cardinal Stritch, he ran Cross Country and Track and Field, and more importantly, he met his future wife, Cheryl. Fred and Cheryl were married on September 23, 1978 and just celebrated 45 years of marriage. Their daughter Krystal was born in 1990, and thanks to her, he became a begrudging University of Notre Dame football fan.

Fred worked in the auto parts industry his entire life. Many in Toledo would know him from his days at Forrest City Auto Parts where he worked for 24 years. He then worked as a Regional Manager for Genuine Parts Company for 20 years which led him and his family on numerous adventures moving around the Midwest. Even in retirement, Fred couldn’t fully leave the industry, so he started working at AutoZone when he and Cheryl returned to Toledo in 2017.

Fred loved nothing more than spending time with his family and being on the water, no matter if it was a pond, lake, or ocean. He enjoyed deep sea fishing in his younger days and was content with Bass or Muskie fishing in recent years. He also loved keeping aquariums all of his life. Rock music was his other big passion. He would be happy to tell you the back story of any artist from the 1960s-80s.

Fred was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008 and continued to fight several recurrences of metastatic prostate cancer in the years to follow. Cheryl and Krystal are so proud of and grateful for his perseverance all these years.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl; daughter, Krystal; sister, Linda Bach; in-laws, Lou (Lourie) Perlaky, Mary Lou (Mark) Nadaud, Carol (Marc) Schwartz, Paul (Allison) Perlaky, Lisa (Tad) Perlaky, Marty (Suzi) Perlaky; and many nieces and nephews.

Thank you to Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Toledo Hospital, and the many nurses and doctors who cared for him. Thank you also to his amazing extended family for their support over the past few months and lifetime of happy memories.

Fred’s life will be celebrated on Thursday, October 5th at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, 212 N Stadium Rd, Oregon, OH 43616. A visitation will be held at 10 am with a Catholic mass beginning at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Fred’s name to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or the Toledo Zoo.