HOMMAGE

On Friday, near midnight, Frédéric Chollet passed away after a long illness. I learned the news in a message sent from South Africa: 

“Fred est parti.”

Fred… he was the one who picked me up at the Marseille airport when I moved to France. I’ll never forget stepping off the plane in my cowboy boots, fresh from the Arizona desert—a sharp contrast to Fred’s elegant loafers and button-down shirt. He was the quintessential Frenchman, and Jean-Marc’s best friend.

“Jean-Marc is working late. He sent me to get you. He’ll be off soon,” Fred explained. “We can wait at my parents’.”

Fred’s parents, Marianne and Michel, would become a kind of blueprint family for us. Every Tuesday night we ate Marianne’s casseroles and later settled onto the facing couches in the salon for an after-dinner drink. Antoine, Fred’s younger brother, made me laugh with his broken English and charming antics. Close-knit, they were a model for Jean-Marc and me, who would soon tie the knot.

They later let us stay at their apartment in the Alps when Jean-Marc asked me to marry him, along the Guisane River. Not long afterward, Fred served as Jean-Marc’s témoin—his best man—at our wedding.

We would return time and again to the Alps, making so many good memories there with the family—and with Fred: rounds of belote at the dining room table, Marianne’s lasagna, and long summer evenings of pétanque in the mountain air. Fred’s péché mignon was chocolate, and there was usually a square or two in the kitchen cupboard.

I’ll never forget Fred driving us through the Alps to Italy, the car winding along a steep mountain road. I was six months pregnant with Max, and all those maternal hormones had kicked in.

“Fred!” I gasped from the back seat. “On n’est pas immortels!”

The phrase would become our clin d’œil. Fred would repeat it with a thick American accent, making me feel like I was still part of the circle—even if I didn’t attend every social gathering or join the jovial group of skiers.

After Max was born, Fred became his parrain, or godfather. During winter breaks chez les Chollet in Serre Chevalier, Fred taught our kids to ski. In the summer he taught them tennis. In the evenings, before all the adults gathered for a night out, he took them, along with his own children, Clémence and Matthieu, to jump on the Alpine trampoline or ride the thrilling go-carts.

Lovable, funny, elegant, and gifted with repartee, Fred had many admirers and lived a full life in his 57 years. As Maître Frédéric Chollet, he built a successful law career in Marseille. Later, he married Béné, with whom he shared many happy years—renovating, traveling, and entertaining friends.

His passion for sports led him, along with two friends, to create the Sport & Business Club. Over the years, the club hosted well-known figures including Bernard Tapie, Alain Prost, and Laure Manaudou. Fred was also involved with the association Sourire à la Vie, which supports children and teenagers fighting cancer.

When American boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler was scheduled to speak, Fred called me. “We need an interpreter for the evening.” I was so touched by this thoughtful invitation at a time when we’d moved north, to an isolated vineyard. Fred had a way of remembering people—and including them.

Jean-Marc tried everything to make it home from South Africa to attend Fred’s funeral. Desperate, he booked a ticket through Dubai—but it was canceled because of the war.

“I’m relieved you won’t be on that plane,” I told him during a phone call while out for a walk. “Max and I will attend.”

After I hung up, I finally took the time to sit down on one of the benches I usually speed past. There, overlooking the Mediterranean, the sun glowed behind the clouds.

On n’est pas immortels… I remembered the words once more. No longer a frantic statement or an inside joke, they now formed a bridge from this bench to the clouds, the sun behind them, and the great mystery beyond.

Fred, wherever you are, you know the answer. 

🎾🎾🎾

FRENCH VOCABULARY

Fred est parti = Fred has left / Fred has passed away
le témoin = best man
la belote = a popular French card game
la pétanque = a French bowling game similar to bocce
le péché mignon = a small guilty pleasure; a weakness for something one enjoys
On n’est pas immortels = we are not immortal
le clin d’œil = a knowing wink; an inside reference or shared joke
le parrain = godfather
chez les Chollet = at the Chollet family’s home
Maître = title used for a lawyer in France

🎾🎾🎾

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