Frederick Pratt, Duxbury, died November 14, 2024. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts on February 19, 1933. He is survived by his son John and was predeceased by his wife Eleanor (Chris) and his daughter Theresa, who died in 1981.

Pratt died in Middlebury, but he was a long-time resident of Duxbury where had had a rustic home on 500 acres high up on Ward Hill and another home at the base of the road. He and his family spent extensive time at the hill house and Fred was happiest there, watching the birds and wildlife. Pratt was a firm believer in the importance of undeveloped tracts of land and he successfully led efforts to prevent subdivision and fragmentation of high elevation habitats and pristine headwaters in the area of Ward Hill and Dowsville Road in Duxbury.

The property was so important to him that in 2000 he donated it to The Vermont Land Trust to be conserved in perpetuity as a place where people would observe and interact with wildlife and where the VLT could study reforestation, animal habitat and other significant details. It is now known as the Pratt Refuge.

Here is a poem that is apt for Frederick A Pratt, the keeper of the Pratt Refuge, the one spot where he thought all could be happy.

The Chickadee

The clutched plush bird, his love-link to this land.

He told me of his treasured chickadees

who'd snatch sunflower seed from his own hand,

at first reluctant, then with frequent ease.

The whisper touch of feet and jaunty flight

with prized seed to a nearby perch.

When he recalled those private times, his face alight

with joy, he said such trust let him feel free.

We squeeze the song from this soft children's toy

and think we see an answered smile. We place

it beak to ear in hopes he can enjoy

the two-note call across the growing space.

"I'm here.

I'm here."