It is with great sadness that I inform the club of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, David Frieze. David was inducted into the Club in July 1975 and he was sponsored by two giants of the Club in David Wittner and Barry Counsel. He was given the classification MENS WEAR – MANUFACTURE. He made men’s suits and some of you may have been lucky enough to own one. Graham Kennedy owned numerous. For many years David was Chairman of the National Menswear Industry Body and a Director of the Fashion Council of Victoria and he fought a rear guard action against offshore manufacturing winning orders to export locally manufactured men’s suits, jackets and trousers to Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
He seldom missed a luncheon meeting and his unforgettable smile engaged everyone he encountered. The advent of COVID and our Zoom response enabled him to continue his almost 100% attendance right up to the week before he passed away.
When asked about his long-time membership of the Club, David replied: “I am most proud of Rotary's many philanthropic achievements throughout the years and extremely happy about the many friendships shared during my 46 years of membership. Also that I served on the Board of Directors for 2 years” He was a well-loved member of the Toorak 1 Group.
His great love of the Melbourne Football Club is legendary, but you might not know of his love for tennis. He described himself as a fanatic. He played the game all his life reluctantly giving it away in his nineties! And did you know he was a Melbourne Cricket Club member for over 82 years.
Now back to his great love, the Melbourne Football Club. David lived and breathed Melbourne all his life. He was a long-time member of the Melbourne Coterie and he didn’t hold back on supporting the club financially. A couple of weeks ago he saw Melbourne’s great comeback win against Geelong to win the Minor Premiership. He knew Melbourne was on the ascendency. If Melbourne can do it this year there will be a tear in eye of everyone who was blessed to know David Frieze. He was an esteemed and much-loved member of the Club and he will be sadly missed. He passed away last Saturday 28 August at the age of 97 years. A private funeral was held on Sunday 29 August and the service can be viewed at http://www.mck.org.au/recordings/1630206000000_76568 until Sunday. His beloved wife Ruth passed away in 2018. President Reg has passed on our condolences to his daughter Sally and the family.
This was followed by a video tribute to David Frieze accompanied by the Demon’s anthem.
