Death of Fred M. Locke

Passing of Fred M. Locke

Fred M. Locke of Victor, New York, who gained prominence through his effective research work and inventions in the ceramic field, died suddenly on April 15, while listening to the reading of a scientific article by his wife, who was his constant companion and deeply interested in his labors.

Fred M. Locke.

Only a few weeks earlier Mr. Locke's son and co-worker in the Locke Research Laboratory at Victor had passed away, this bereavement having undoubtedly shortened his father's life.

Mr. Locke was born in Honeoye Falls, New York, April 24, 1861, a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Morton Locke. After graduating from a local school he became a telegrapher and while interested in electricity and acting as operator and agent for the New York Central Railroad at Victor he spent much of his spare time in experiments. At that period many serious breakdowns of telegraph insulators occurred during storms, disarranging railroad schedules, and Mr. Locke began to experiment in his own kitchen with porcelain products, with a view to producing better insulators. In 1898 he met with success and his plant became the largest insulator factory in the world.

The business was incorporated in 1922 under the name Locke Insulator Corporation and large plants in Victor and Baltimore are operated. The laboratory had become large and complete. His research work included ultraviolet ray transmitting glass and oven glass, a type of which he developed and upon which he and his son, Fred J. Locke, were engaged when death brought their labors to a close.

Mr. Locke was deeply devoted to family life and also found time to indulge several hobbies. He was an expert angler and photographer.

Fred J. Locke, the third son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred M. Locke, who, as mentioned above, passed away on March 15 at the Thompson Memorial Hospital, Canadaigua, New York, had been ill for some time and had undergone an operation for an ear infection. The strain on his system became too heavy, however, and his death resulted ultimately from heart failure. Fred J. Locke was born in Victor in 1889. After attending Victor high school he went to Cornell University, specializing in chemistry. During the world war he served his country at Aberdeen, N. C., doing scientific work, heart weakness having barred him from overseas service.

Besides his widow, four sons, Morton F., of Dobbs Ferry, New York; Louis P., of Victor; Peer A., of Ravenna, Ohio, and James L., of Victor, and four grandchildren survive.