Frederick Jerome Young

Frederick Jerome (Hojnowski) Young of Southgate, Michigan passed away on Monday January 12 at the age of 79. He was born on September 12, 1946, in Wyandotte Michigan where he grew up. Fred was an only child he had many cousins that he spent much of his time with, one in particular he was very close with was Philip who was like a brother and was best man at his wedding.

He had been raised in the Roman Catholic Church and resided in Wyandotte, Michigan at the family apartment house. He graduated from Mount Carmel Catholic High School in 1964. He enjoyed participating in sports such as football, basketball, and baseball.

After Fred graduated from Mount Carmel Catholic High School he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for four years. He engaged in his training at Camp Pendleton, California. During the Vietnam War, he served three tours in radio communication. He also served during the Middle Eastern Conflict in 1967 for 6 months. After that, he completed his service duty at Camp Le Jeune, North Carolina and was discharged in July of 1968.

Fred received training as a police officer from The Detroit Police Academy and obtained his first job with the Detroit Police Department in Detroit, Michigan, in May of 1969. He then was employed by Woodhaven Police Department in October 1969. In October 1982, he completed training with the Redstone Army Missile Center in Huntsville, Alabama in order to be a bomb technician for the Woodhaven Police Department as well. He also obtained a certificate from the Northwestern University School of Staff and Command Leadership Training hosted at Eastern Michigan University in 1986. He attended additional classes for his administrative lieutenant position at various colleges throughout his employment. He began his career as a patrolman and earned the ranks of corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant. He concluded his career by serving as the administrative lieutenant of the detective bureau.

Fred was on duty working the afternoon shift as a police officer on Friday, June 15, 1984. He had performed a routine pullover, when a man who was driving the vehicle openly fired upon him. He was critically shot 4 times and sustained multiple injuries. He had an out of body experience which further cemented his relationship with the Lord. God chose to use Fred to reflect His ability to still perform miracles, he received 42 pints of blood that night and survived. Fred surpassed milestones the doctors said that he should not have attained. He not only survived, he walked again only a week after the assault and returned to work eighteen months later.

Fred became pen pals with Pam in 1965 while he was serving in the United States Marines during the Viet Nam War. They wrote for a period of two years and then met each other in March of 1967. They continued to correspond and date until they became engaged in December of 1968. They were engaged for a period of six months and were married on June 21, 1969 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church in Wyandotte, Michigan. They jointly made the decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church and seek one that would better meet both their needs. After much prayer and church research, they joined the Presbyterian Church in 1975.

Fred was actively involved in Boy’s Stockade, men’s ministry, youth ministry which included youth camps, being a bus driver for numerous trips, leading Sunday school, custodial work, being a trustee, being an elder and serving on the facilities and security committee at First Presbyterian Church of Trenton. He was also actively involved with the Woodhaven Marching Band Boosters.

He was preceded in death by his parents Jerome Joseph Hojnowski and Anna Mary (Dembinski) Hojnowski.

He is survived by his loving wife Pamela Jo (Simrell) Young of 56 years. Children Bradley Young, Desiree (Mark) Merkey, Tracey (Chris) Riley. Grandchildren, Erika (Zack) Nielsen, Courtney (Grant) Walsh, Hannah Riley, Lydia (Troy) Schmitz, Ethan Riley, Marcus Young, Levi Young, and Katelyn Young. Great Grand Children Damon Nielsen, Dawson Nielson, Dallas Nielson, and Leif Walsh.

The family would like to thank Angela Hospice and all his medical teams over the years for the care and compassion they showed Fred.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at First Presbyterian Church of Trenton on Tuesday January 20 at 10 am. Visitation with the family will begin at 9:30 am.

Interment to follow at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly date yet to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in his honor to a Veterans or Police Organization.