A long, weaving line of Purdue students shuffles lethargic and heavy footed one after another with their weighty backpacks slung over one shoulder.  Bundled in big coats against the cold with their hats pulled down over their faces, each one is a perfect picture of the tired and overworked college student, until they step up to Frederick Deck’s station. 

Deck has manned his post every morning at breakfast for seven years and recently moved to the new Ford Dining Court on Stadium Avenue.  His official job is to check student identification cards, work the register and stop students who attempt to take food and dishes, but he has made it his mission to know every name, face and story.

Light rock music plays low from the overhead speakers, and glass windows let the sun shine onto the tables, but Deck is the real light of the room. 

Even though 560 students on average wander through his line daily, each gets personal attention and looks more awake after having their morning cup of conversation with Deck.

Deck, who some students call “Fabulous Fred,” is a veteran, community activist and passionate painter, but each day he focuses on strengthening his student’s spirits by sharing jokes with them or giving advice. 

When Deck tells them jokes they throw jokes right back. 

“Some of them are off-color so you got to watch what you tell,” he said.

He has had an impact upon students by urging the sick and tired to seek medical attention when they adamantly say they do not have the time, he said.  He has talked students who are failing classes through their tears and continued to encourage them through their graduations.

Deck said he loves working with the students, but if they mess up he will “be on your butt like dirty underwear.”  He will not treat them like children. 

Every student who comes through the breakfast line looks forward to Deck being there, and on rare days when he is absent something is missing from the rest of their day. 

“They couldn’t imagine breakfast without him,” said Kathy Vill, Deck’s supervisor.  “They do miss him when he’s not here.  They ask about him.”            

Part of what makes Deck so strong and influential to the students is his amazing life.  At 67 he has seen and done things most people only dream about, but he has called Lafayette home his entire life.

Deck began work for Purdue setting bowling pins at the age of 13.  Little did he know that, after an adventurous life that took him all around the world, he would come full circle to work for Purdue again in his retirement.

Deck graduated from Jefferson High School in Lafayette with majors in industrial and theatrical art.  He won a state and national awards for his paintings and wanted to be a backdrop designer for the movies, but his art would be put on hold until later in life.

When he was 18 Deck joined the Navy.  During the Vietnam War his ship dropped Navy Seals, at that time called VDTs, into northern Vietnam in the “pitch black dark”, he said.  Their ship got so close to shore that sand would get sucked into the engine. 

One time Deck and his crew chased a German submarine for four days to get it out of the area, he said. 

Deck also was active during the Lebanon Crisis in 1958, but his most gripping story comes from his experience of being under attack in the Cuban Crisis of 1960.

“This Cuban airplane was just above water, right along the side of the ship,” Deck recalled.  “Our guns were going all around looking for him, and he flew right between the two stacks of the ship.” 

During his time in the Navy Deck traveled all over the world.  Although he speaks most fondly of Italy and Greece, Deck saw most of northern Europe and the Caribbean before heading back home to Indiana. 

Upon his return he married a woman he affectionately called “Gravel Gertie,” and worked in Lafayette at the Fairfield Manufacturing Co., where he worked his way up from gauge and thread grinder to designer before retirement. 

Deck and “Gertie” had four children before they divorced after 23 years.  He said that his biggest accomplishment is being a parent, and to date he has 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.  If you count the students he mentors, he has hundreds more. 

Deck’s experiences as a veteran and respect for his fellow man have influenced him not only to take up the cause of impacting students but also to be a community activist. 

Former Lafayette Mayor Jim Riehle wanted to honor a Japanese automobile plant coming to Lafayette by naming a road “Oda Drive” after a Japanese city.  Deck organized a protest when the road Riehle had in mind was announced as the one in front of Memorial Island, the Korean and World War II memorial in Lafayette City Park.

Deck enlisted the help of hundreds of local people to park their cars on U.S. Highway 52 all the way to the plant which is on Highway 38, lock their doors, and walk away.  This would have backed up traffic for a very long time.  The city agreed to drop the plan. 

However, activism is not the only thing Deck devotes his time to these days.  Since retiring he has regained the passion for painting he had in his youth, but also has acquired an odd quirk. 

Every winter Deck goes out and buys a mound of canvas, oil paints and water colors.  He brings picture after picture alive, and when he is finished with one canvas he immediately gives it away to friends, coworkers or family as quickly as he can. 

“I have to get it out of the house as soon as I’m finished,” Deck said.

 Once he has told his story it is easy to see why students and coworkers alike look forward to seeing Deck every morning for breakfast.  He is a character with character. 

“One kid said Fred was a breakfast institution,” Vill, Deck’s supervisor, said.  “He loves the kids, likes to share stories, and knows a lot about their lives.” 

One student who comes through every morning to see Deck summed up what he means to him.

“Breakfast wouldn’t be the same without him,” said Bill Price, sophomore in the school of management.  “He’s always positive and encouraging.”

Price said that it doesn’t matter who comes through the door Deck connects with them and makes them feel welcome. 

So it seems that the feelings of affection and respect are mutual between Deck and the students who come through his breakfast line.

“Not seeing Fred in the morning is different,” Price continued.  “You feel like something is missing out of the day.”