Frederick Orval Flener

Obituary

Don’t cry because he’s gone, smile because he was here. Making people smile or laugh was what brought Dr. Frederick Flener joy in life. After suffering a bad fall followed by a stroke while in Southern California, Fred left this world for other adventures on May 25, 2026.

Fred was born on October 8, 1940, in Chicago to Julia Tessler. He spent his early years on the north side of Chicago honing his hustling skills, excelling in school, and laying the foundation for a lifelong love of the Cubs. He graduated from Leyden High School where he played football, basketball, baseball, and worked as a golf caddy, which led to an Evans Scholarship to attend the University of Illinois.

While at the U of I, Fred met Joen Gallentine of Morrison, Illinois, who had to maneuver past his long legs every day in a freshman lecture class and then recognized him outside of Kam’s.  The two were married in 1963 and started their family in Oak Forest, IL, where they had four children (Jo, Shelley, Katie, and Karl).

Fred also received both his Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the U of I.  After a few years working as a high school math teacher, he joined the faculty at Northeastern Illinois University where he taught as a Professor of Mathematics Education for more than three decades. Fred loved thinking critically about mathematics pedagogy and shared his enthusiasm and strategies with countless student teachers over the years, with an influence that then flowed to thousands of young minds.

Perhaps due to his sports background, his love of competition led to his involvement with high school math teams. In 1976, he was one of the founders of the ICTM math contests and continued to write countless problems for math competitions over roughly 40 years. Fred especially loved creating real world challenges that illustrate the importance of math in everyday life. He went on to author several books, most about math contest writing, but also one about former students who had participated in a unique math education program that championed critical thinking skills.  His enthusiasm for math was so contagious that Joen, after years of teaching science, went back for a second masters in math so that she could be a part of that world.

In 1975, the family moved to Park Ridge, IL, where Fred relished being a part of his kids’ lives. He volunteered at their school working with kids doing real-world math activities; coached baseball, basketball, and softball teams; and sat through hundreds of performances, games, swim meets, and concerts. At the community level, Fred wanted to help keep the schools strong and so he ran for a seat on the District 64 School Board and eventually served as the President. When his kids moved on to high school, Fred served on the School Board for District 207. Meanwhile, the Park Ridge Community Church (and Circle 2) became an important grounding center for the family where Fred served regularly as an usher and coordinated blood drives for Lifesource through the church. Fred would make members of the congregation laugh as he walked up the aisles dressed as Dracula or a bloodhound, encouraging people to give their blood.

As much as Fred loved being a dad, there was even more joy in becoming a Grandpa. Danielle was first, and because she lived with her grandparents for the first decade of her life, she is essentially their 5th kid. Many more grandchildren would follow.

After nearly 45 years of marriage, Fred lost his love and the mother of his children in 2008 to breast cancer. Fred spent years by Joen’s side as her caretaker through her illness.

Shortly after Joen’s passing, Fred met Patty Gaede while in Laguna Woods, California. They were married soon after in 2010 and spent many years traveling the world. They split their time between Southern California and Illinois while enjoying watching their families grow and becoming grandparents to 15 kids!

Fred had a very accomplished life. He loved every minute of being a husband, friend, father, grandfather, and teacher. In the end, the comments most made about him was that he was kind, down to earth, funny, and he loved life.  This makes the hole he left much bigger.

Fred is survived by his wife, Patty; his four children, JoEllen (Kevin Wiland), Michelle O’Brien (David), Katrina (Colin Arpe), and Karl (Maureen Lesak); Patty’s two children, Tyler (Amy) Gaede and Heather Gaede Clifft (Jeremy); and the 15 grandkids (Danielle Soldat, Sean and Molly O’Brien, Shaafi and Amani Flener, Harry and Zoë Lesak, Josie and Justin Wiland, Cassandra and Penelope Arpe, Clara and Charlie Gaede, Daphne and Sabrina Clifft). He was preceded in death by his first wife, Joen.

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