Family & Friends Comment Page

The Cirineo Family sincerely appreciates your condolences and respects.  We hope you can share a personal memory or story about Godofredo (Fred).

If you would like to post a picture, please send it to cirineo@msn.com.

Thank You!

12 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. Cirineo and Family,

    I'm sorry to learn of your loss. My father, Hans Adami, was a Boeing colleague in the late 1950's and early 1960's, and like Mr. Cirineo he and my mother Peggie lived in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle. There was a close bond among those like Hans and Fred that came to the US from distant places, to build not only a career, but a life.

    I have never forgotten the warmth and respect that my parents held for the entire Cirineo family, and the lives they built here. God bless you all with assurances of His love, and wonderful memories of your patriarch. With affection, - John Adami

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  2. Dear Mary and Family,

    Christine and I want to offer our sincere sympathy to Mary and the family on Fred's passing. He was one of the good guys and we will miss him. We will take comfort in knowing he is in a better place now.
    I had the priviledge of working with Fred on several airplane programs and we also had the Purdue connection. He was an excellent engineer who made contributions in his chosen technical field, propulsion. He was a friendly person and had a wonderful sense of humor.

    He and Mary visited us on our ranch several years ago and it was a real treat to reconnect with both of them. He was enjoying retirement and looked just as he did the last time I saw him after he retired. We recieved email from him when there was some information about Propulsion Engineering at Boeing that I would be interested in.
    As a read the blog, I was amazed at what an interesting life he had growing up in the Phillipines, World War II, coming to this country to attend Purdue, his work history with different companies that he never mentioned before, meeting Mary, etc.

    Fred was really organized. He maintained a set of files that were supposed to be thrown out in one of the Boeing housekeeping purges in Everett and was constantly beseiged by people calling him up many years later, looking for that information that was supposed to be thrown away. He said it cost the company millions of dollars to get that information so he didn't want to throw it away.

    When the 767 Team was chosen and Fred was assigned to the 757 Team he was kind of disappointed. I asked him why and he told me, "the 767 guys are the first team and I feel bad I wasn't selected to work on that program". I said if we are the second team , we'll just have to try harder and when all is said and done, we'll see who is really the first team! Fred was responsible for the detail development of the thrust reverser flow path, working with the Rolls Royce guys. To make a long story short, that 757/ RR thrust reverser had higher performance (Cv reverse thrust and a lower certified cutoff speed at 45 knots)and met the area match targets that were required. I'll just say that the first team had more difficulty in their development program and could never match the reverser performance of the so called "second team" and leave it at that. While Fred was well mannered and quiet, he was also very competitive! No one was going to tell him he didn't belong on the first team!

    Fred and I and many others were fortunate to have worked in what I feel was the golden age of commercial jet developement, when every new airplane was an order of magnitude better than its predecessor. We worked for a company that put technical excellance to the forefront. It was a "gathering of eagles" and now, one by one, the eagles are flying off to their eternal Home.

    Godspeed Gordo!*

    Jerry Laskody

    * Somewhere along the way, Fred picked up the nickname of "Gordo". It was easier for us folks to say then "Godofredo".

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  3. Fred and I came to Boeing and retired within a year of each other, so I knew Fred for a long time. We were friends and would visit on a social level whenever he would drop in on the 737 Program in Renton where I worked.

    During the 60s Fred gave me a turntable when many were building their own stereo music systems. In the 80s he offered his advice when I was courting a Filipino lady. Since retirement, I remember talking with Fred only a couple times: once at the funeral of a colleague several years ago and before that, at a dinner function at St Anthony's Hall in Renton. I'm sure that at one time or another we talked cars, since we both drove a Pontiac to our new job at Boeing; myself driving a '55 model from North Dakota.

    Fred certainly had a model marriage, family and career. And his continued interest in aeronautics after retirement amazes me. Both my wife and I read his memoirs with deep interest. My wife, named Minda, was born in Davao City, Mindanao, after the war. Her father survived the Japanese death march.

    Like many Boeing colleagues, I did not know Fred's age or much about his family, except that he had many children. I'm happy I was able to attend Fred's funeral and say goodbye in that way. I looked forward to meeting some of his family, but that was not to be................Arlen Notch

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  4. Dear Tito Godo,

    " God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be. So He put His arms around you and whispered "Come to Me"... Your golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best."

    We will miss you Tito Godo. May your soul rest in peace.

    Bombit, Inday and children Robby, Faye, Risa and Julian

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  5. I'm sorry to hear of Fred's passing, and am pleased that it was peaceful. He deserved no less.

    I worked with Fred on the Boeing airplane engine thrust reversers, but at Rohr Industries in Chula Vista CA, one of the subcontractors. Fred was a gentleman and a scholar, and did a great job representing Boeing for a long time. I really enjoyed his company, and wish that I had known him better.

    Regards -- Randy Seaver

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  6. I am so sorry to learn about the passing of Fred. Your father and I are very good and dear friend and worked together at Boeing for over 40 years. As you may know, we were also partner for the apartment at Freemont. We also kicked tires together and looked for some good used and inexpensive sport cars. He will be really missed.

    Your father was a very good man, propulsion engineer and he had had a very productive and happy life. I would say he had a full and complete life.

    I am now in Chicago and will not be able to pay my respect to your father. Please give my best regards and deepest sympathy to your mother and your family.

    Michael Su

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  7. Thank you, Matt for your e-mail about your dad. Of course, you sent this to Charles Chesters, but Charles preceded Fred to the next world: he died just four years ago, suddenly and without any warning, when we were on holiday in Australia. Charles had a great liking and respect for your dad, and enjoyed working with him both in America and at Rolls Royce, here in Derby. Indeed, I remember hearing about Thomas’s birth, as Fred was visiting us at the time. A bonus in knowing your dad was that we got to meet your mother, too, and I always enjoyed the Christmas letters she used to send, but we hadn’t heard from your parents in quite a while, but as you can see, they were by no means forgotten. I wonder if any of the younger generations of Cireneos followed Fred into the aero engine business?
    One of the hardest things in life, in fact I would say the hardest, is to lose any of your nearest and dearest, the pain is acute and the huge space they leave is unfillable: and with parents, it is particularly hard to have to come to terms with the fact that someone who was always there, was the basis of our life, is no longer physically present. I trust you will all find that you will be guided through this difficult time. And I do send particular commiserations to Mary as she has to get used to being without her “other half”, though I know she will have the great support of the family – a godsend at a time like this.
    My very good wishes to all of you as you grieve for the loss of such an important person in all your lives.
    Marian Chesters

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  8. (copied from an email from Bob Standish)

    I am crushed. I loved your dad. one of my best colleagues. I worked at Boeing, but have been here in Paris for 30 years with Airbus. Your dad made many trips here , and we did aero testing in Holland together. He was also very respected by my Rolls Royce and GE engine friends. I will let them know of our loss.
    Where are you located and working , and is your mom O.K.?

    Bob

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  9. I have many memories of Uncle Fred dating back to my childhood years when we moved to Seattle shortly after he and Aunt Mary. He allowed me to hang out at their place to
    play with the babies, or when Aunt Sara came to town. I also went to several Filipino picnics with them and was introduced to such delicacies as blood pudding.

    His sense of humor caught me “off guard” in the early years. When baby #5 was born, I
    was living in an apartment in North Seattle, and was asked if Fred could drop the 4 boys off, along with money to go to McDonald’s, while he picked up Mary and baby from the
    hospital so they could have a peaceful ride home. Later on, I was to take the boys to their
    home in Renton. When Uncle Fred arrived at my place, I eagerly asked the name of the
    first girl to grace the Cirineo household, and was told with a straight face “Gertrude”. I was horrified, having an elderly, not-well-liked supervisor at the time with the same name. It was not till I got to Renton that I learned the true name, Suzanne! After that,
    I watched for that telltale twinkle in Fred’s eye when he was telling a “funny!”

    Vicki Karlsson

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    Replies
    1. Hello, I am not a friend of the family but I am hoping it isn't too late to respond to this. My husband and I were in a shop and found a propulsion book that belonged to your father. It has his handwriting and everything in it from when he worked with Cessna. It also has some of his information it it. We do not know how this book found its way to our small town in tennessee but we would much like to return it to the family.
      I am so sorry for your loss. He sounds like he was an incredible smart man.
      Sincerely, K

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    2. Hi there, thank you for contacting us. Sorry for not responding sooner -- if by chance you see this and still have the book, we would really like to arrange to get it from you. Please post again and we will get in touch. Thank you! - Cirineo family

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  10. hello.
    i'm doing an e-magazine for and about feati university alumni. would like to use the foto of the old aero engineering class to show how things were in feati back then. this is a pro bono project, so i hope you will allow me free use of the foto. credit will, of course, be given to your website. my e-mail addy is ndeleon122949@gmail.com. thank you.

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