R. Frederick Seebeck, retired longtime Loomis Chaffee faculty member, will deliver the 2023 Commencement address at Loomis Chaffee on Sunday, May 28.

During his 37 years on the Island (1983–2020), Fred taught English and, at various times, also served as English Department head, a dean of students, an associate director of admission, a dorm head in Batchelder and Taylor Halls, an affiliate in Flagg and Warham Halls, a trusted and valued advisor to students, and a faculty advisor to the Student Council. He also coached swimming, water polo, and track.

“I regard my Loomis years as the best of my life: most of my close friends are fellow faculty members, the professional challenges and opportunities were broadening and fulfilling, and I was blessed to teach and coach hundreds of motivated, interesting, diverse, engaged, and devoted students over the years,” Fred said recently.

“I eagerly unwrapped every new day in anticipation of the variety of little challenges and rewards ahead of me, all precious gifts. Never a dull moment. The energy, humor, and genuine investment of Loomis students in the learning process kept me young and kept me motivated. And I am eternally grateful for, and indebted to, my wonderful colleagues and friends. Returning to the Island to honor the class of ’23 will also allow me to express my deep gratitude to Loomis Chaffee for enriching my life beyond measure.”

A graduate of Brown University, Fred taught at St. George’s School in Rhode Island before taking an admission associate role at Loomis in order to coach water polo, a sport not offered at St. George’s. He began teaching English full-time at Loomis during his third year on the Island.

If Fred was a force of nature on the Island for so many years, so too were the events at the start and end of his career at Loomis. In 1984, during his first year of teaching, spring flood waters rose so high that the campus truly became an island. Fred and fellow faculty member James “Grim” Wilson stayed in Flagg Hall with several boys who were unable to evacuate. Undaunted, Fred, Grim, and the boys paddled in canoes over the causeway one night to reach the school vans parked at the public library. They made their way to dinner and paddled back by canoe to the dorms.

COVID-19 caused its own version of widespread disruption in 2019–20, Fred’s final school year before he retired. The pandemic forced the shut-down of all schools in Connecticut, including Loomis, in March 2020. That spring Fred would teach his English classes via Zoom video conference.

“I’m grateful that no one I love — let alone no one I know — perished during the pandemic,” Fred said. “Needless to say, it was a profoundly miserable stretch for all of humanity. During that final spring, I missed my students and my many faculty friends more than I can say.”

Fred’s many passions included his Loomis swimming and diving teams, which consistently were near the top of the New England Prep School Swimming Association and won 18 Founders League titles.

Fred was born in New Jersey, but his family moved to Chicago when he entered high school, which explains his family’s allegiance to the Chicago Cubs. Fred, who now lives in Rhode Island, has turned into a true New Englander — and is a longtime Boston Red Sox fan. One of his best Loomis memories is of a crowded Batchelder social room where Fred and the students cheered on the Red Sox as Boston won the 2004 World Series title, the team’s first since 1918.

Loomis Chaffee will celebrate its 107th Commencement on Sunday, May 28, 2023. For more information about the event, please visit www.loomischaffee.org/commencement-2023.