If there is one word that can be associated with Fred W. Kollhopp, it’s friendship.Throughout his life, and even after his death, friendship surrounds Mr. Kollhopp, who died in St. Petersburg, Florida, on April 21, after a battle with cancer. He was 88.
Throughout the last four decades, Mr. Kollhopp had a great deal of success in the South Fork real estate industry. He owned Sea Realty, with offices in Westhampton, Montauk, East Hampton, Southampton and Hampton Bays.
But Mr. Kollhopp wasn’t a showy man or a boastful man. He was quietly successful.
“I knew Fred for, oh, 40 years,” said Ernest Schade, a real estate broker who now lives in Sag Harbor. “We were both from Queens, so we had that in common. We would share our remembrances of growing up—it was a different time then, and we would reminisce.”
Mr. Schade went on to say, “He was a gentle man with a big handshake, and an even bigger smile.”
Mr. Kollhopp shared a great friendship with his wife, Patricia Pescod Kollhopp. They got to know each other for some time before they realized they were in love. They met in the late 1970s, when she was looking for a house. In the mid-1980s, she began working for him as a broker, managing his Southampton real estate office—and things remained strictly platonic.
Pat Kollhopp talked about this period when she met Fred: “It gave me a chance to get to know him better, and to realize what a good man he was. But they say timing in life is important, and we started dating in the early ’90s, and a beautiful friendship grew into love. We were married on May 15, 1994.”
Mr. Kollhopp was an only child. He liked to wear hats—both literally and figuratively. He worked in the aircraft industry, and his father’s various businesses including a soda fountain and candy store in Riverhead, and the Surf and Sand restaurant right on the beach in Westhampton. The building survived two hurricanes.
Mr. Kollhopp honed his people skills at these places before he found his true calling. He loved the East End and he loved people. Real estate became a perfect career choice.
He enjoyed his time serving in the U.S. Army in the mid-1950s. Ms. Kollhopp said, “He used to say that after working so many jobs to support his family at that time that Uncle Sam sent him to camp with beer!”
He was very close to his stepchildren, T.R. Pescod of Southampton and Laura Pescod of St. Petersburg, Florida, and “the light of his life,” his granddaughter, Carter. Two previous marriages produced two sons, Frederick and William Kollhopp, and a daughter, Kathy Mascali. Another daughter, Rose Kollhopp, predeceased him.
He leaves behind nine grandchildren, many great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, as well as his stepmother, Harriot Kollhopp.
After getting his start in the real estate business with the late Mr. Hentschel in Westhampton, he had, by the mid-1980s, built a successful multi-office agency. These offices were all connected by an early computer system, long before such technological communications were commonplace. “He was a real visionary,” Mr. Schade said.
“He was always learning, taking many real estate classes to add designations to his license,” Ms. Kollhopp said. “He belonged to FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, and we traveled yearly to different countries, where we experienced wonderful hospitality and met very interesting people, some of whom became close friends over the years.”
“He was one of the kindest, gentlest men I have had the honor of knowing,” said Cosmo Ficara, a broker with Coldwell Banker. “He was a wealth of information on the ever-changing developing real estate market, especially as it pertained to the East End of Long Island. He touched many lives and will be missed by many.”
AnnMarie Pallister, the director of education at Douglas Elliman, said, “Fred was just so sweet, and he always came to every function. Just the nicest guy.”
She explained that he was instrumental in shaping how real estate is done on the East End. He was a founding member of the Eastern Suffolk Board of Realtors and active in the Long Island Board of Realtors, in addition to FIABCI. He belonged to five chambers of commerce. He was a member of the Southampton Elks and was on the vestry of St. John’s Church in Southampton.
After selling his last two offices to Dottie Herman of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, he volunteered with the Dominican Sisters and Human Services. But he kept his real estate license, and he and Ms. Kollhopp spent three to four months a year in St. Petersburg, Florida, where her daughter lives.
“Pat and he were inseparable,” Ms. Pallister said. “I can see him now at every fundraiser, with a smile on his face, dancing with Pat.”
With emotion, she continued, “He started a whole handicap division, making houses accessible and finding handicapped people accessible homes. Veterans, the disabled … Fred was all about helping these people. He was motivated by his love of the business and his love of people. He was doing these things long before it was politically correct to do so.”
Mr. Schade recalled, “He would work with seniors helping them liquidate their homes or buy their homes. He counseled and helped them to be cautious. He and Pat did this the last 10 years. He was very conscious of those that were less fortunate.”
“He was a compassionate, sincere and honest guy,” agreed Beau Hulse, a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker. “You felt it. A genuine man. A class act, pure and simple. And, boy, could he dance! He was a very, very good broker. And a very, very good dancer.”
Mr. Hulse offered a memory: Two years ago, at an event where he was singing Frank Sinatra standards, Fred and Pat were dancing. “There was a real love between him and Pat. You could feel it. I can just see them dancing, even now.”
“It wasn’t just about the next sale. It was, for Fred, fitting people in the right home.” Ms. Pallister said. “I am where I am now because of him.”
John Keeshan, founder of Keeshan Real Estate in Montauk, now part of Compass, had an office a few doors down from Sea Realty. “He was a very unselfish and giving person,” Mr. Keeshan said. “After working for Fred, I started my own business. You’d think there would be a little acrimony, but Fred said, ‘Everyone gets his turn at bat,’ and he wished me nothing but luck. We remained very good friends, and I had lunch recently with him and Pat. We knew we were both getting older—and you don’t want to let those things wait.”
He’s glad they didn’t wait.
“A lot of people chase a buck. Not Fred. He left this world with the admiration and love of his peers. That’s what matters,” he said.
“I knew Fred for such a long time, close to 25 years,” said Ms. Kollhopp. “And after spending over 40 years selling houses, he started to make and sell the most beautiful birdhouses.”
He was good with his hands, she said. “I used to kid him about his Dumpster diving,” she remembered fondly. “He was always making things: a step stool for his granddaughter, a holder for guest towels.”
He loved helping people find their “dream” home, she said. He also loved his garden, growing vegetables and flowers. In Florida in the winter, he enjoyed biking, kayaking—and, of course, dancing.
“He was always active and hard to keep up with!” Ms. Kollhopp said.
He was, right to the end, a people person.
“Even when he was in hospice, he’d have me arrange for friends to visit. He was a gentle, kind man who never said a bad word against anyone.”
His friend, Mr. Keeshan, said, “He was a very honorable and decent man—the rare exception in today’s world. When I first came out here in 1974, I was really floundering. He hired me to manage his office in Montauk. He was a real lifesaver. I really loved the guy.”
His friend, Mr. Schade said this: “I am reminded of the final scene in the film ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ when Private Ryan is at the grave of Captain Miller and turns to his wife and says, ‘Am I a good man?’”
Mr. Schade paused to compose himself.
“I would say to Fred, and I am sure Pat would agree, that ‘Yes, of course you are a good man. Not only a good man, but an honorable man. Something very rare.’ What a wonderful friend.”
Services will be held later this summer in Southampton. In lieu of flowers, Mr. Kollhopp requested planting a small evergreen or tree on public lands for all to enjoy or making a donation to PBS—his favorite, and the only station he would watch or listen to.
on May 5, 2017