Fredensburg had a passion for life and golf

Elia Powers

They say his golf swing was as smooth as his delivery when telling a

good joke.

Jeff Fredensburg had PGA skills and a slew of one-liners that

could crack up a room.

“He was an extrovert,” said Audrey Fredensburg, Jeff’s mother. “He

had a wonderful sense of humor that came out in almost any setting.”

A former Corona del Mar resident, Fredensburg died May 29 of a

brain aneurysm. He was 51.

Born in Los Angeles, his family moved to Long Beach when he was

young. That’s where he met his future wife, Holly, then a classmate

at Millikan High School.

“He was a total gentleman,” Holly said. “He loved to have fun.”

From an early age, Fredensburg was an avid golfer and skier. He

played on his high school links team and turned down scholarships

from UCLA and USC to attend San Diego State, which then had a

top-notch golf team.

“He was beautifully coordinated,” Audrey Fredensburg said.

“Athletics came naturally to him.”

So did business.

Fredensburg spent his summers on Balboa Island, where his family

often stayed. He loved cars, and when he was 18 years old, he bought

a used 1965 Maserati, drove it a few times and managed to sell it at

a higher price.

He did this numerous times with a variety of high-end vehicles,

said his cousin, Denver resident Ken Reif.

Reif said Fredensburg often joked about what a conversation would

have been like between himself and an auto insurance agent: “Yeah,

I’m checking for insurance ... I’m 18 years old ... Hello, Hello,

anyone there?’ ” Reif said.

A business major at San Diego State, Fredensburg became chief

executive officer of Cempi Industries, a steel manufacturing company

based in Westminster. His father, Fred, had been in that line of work

for 40 years, helped his son enter the field and later worked for his

son’s company.

Jeff and his wife bought a home in Corona del Mar, where they

lived for about 15 years. He later bought a home in Laguna Beach.

Fredensburg hosted regular family gatherings and took relatives to

go skiing at Mammoth Mountain.

“He was very attentive to us and we always had a good time when we

were together,” Audrey Fredensburg said.

Throughout adulthood, his mind was set on golf. He belonged to the

Newport Beach Country Club, where he was a club champion.

“He had the talent,” Holly said. “Golf was his love.”