Colonel Frederick L. Wilmoth

Frederick Wilmoth

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Frederick L. Wilmoth died peacefully in his home on August 8, 2025, with his loving family holding his hands.

Fred was born and raised in Harrisburg, IL, the only child of Mary “Pudge” Prather and Fred “Catfish” Wilmoth. Fred’s love for Harrisburg ran deep, and he often shared happy stories of his early childhood in the Wilmoth family home, pulling his red wagon across the street to play with his cousins, and later living “in” jail as a kid during his father’s term as Saline County Sheriff. A natural athlete, Fred played several sports throughout his school years, co-captaining the football team as well as the only Harrisburg High School basketball team to ever win the South Seven Conference championship, a fact his daughter learned on a Harrisburg Facebook page and doesn’t care to check for accuracy. Upon graduation from high school Fred accepted an athletic scholarship to play football for the University of Illinois, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He left after two years in order to accept an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1959. He played his final two years of college football eligibility for West Point (“Go Army! Beat Navy!”), and after that was tapped to spend his junior and senior academic years on the coaching staff for Army’s 150 pounds and under team.

A combat veteran, Fred served two tours of duty in Vietnam. In between those tours the Army sent him to Spain to earn a master’s degree in Spanish Civilization, which he applied when he returned to West Point as a Spanish instructor. It was during his time teaching at West Point that he met his sweetheart, Cindy, whom he married in 1969 and lovingly referred to as his first wife for the entire duration of their nearly 56 years of marriage. His career meant that he and Cindy relocated often, living all over in places both wonderful and not, and traveling frequently. Because Fred loved his wife, and she loved Hawaii, he twice let Cindy’s influence steer him towards assignments on Oahu. She thanks him for it to this day.

His final two military postings took him and his family to Washington State, where he was the Garrison Commander at Fort Lewis (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord). After having lived all over and traveling to every continent except Antarctica, he and Cindy decided to finally settle in Seattle, where Fred lived for the rest of his life. After his retirement from active duty in 1989, Fred was encouraged by many to put his military background and leadership experience to use by running for office or by consulting at a private firm, but he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and Fred excelled at his second career as a full time husband and father. How lucky his family was to have so much time with him. In addition to being a loving family man, he was an avid reader, with a particular affinity for history books. This made Fred a highly sought after trivia teammate, whenever he could be convinced to play. Always without agenda or pretense, and perpetually calm, he was someone people were always happy to be around and he was beloved by his community of friends.

Surviving family members include his wife Cynthia and their daughter Claire (Kim), in addition to many cherished relatives. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Fred always strove to serve his country and his family. He accomplished his mission.

A funeral with military honors will be held at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent at 1:00 PM on October 17th, which would have been his 90th birthday. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sea-Tac USO.