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Former mayor Fred Niehoff dies

Mayor Fred Niehoff [PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE]

Former Hendersonville mayor Fred Niehoff died early Sunday at his home in Bluffton, S.C., where he and his wife, Caroline, had moved after his retirement from elective office.

An engineer who took an interest in the technical aspects of city government, especially the water and sewer system, Niehoff was a popular mayor with a talent for leading the council to consensus without friction. He served as mayor from 1993 until 2004. One of his major contributions to the city's governance was restoring the council-manager form of government, which his predecessor, Don Michalove, had abolished.

A native of Fairview Village, Ohio, Niehoff studied engineering and worked in the ball bearing industry before coming to Hendersonville, where he was an engineering instructor at Blue Ridge Community College. He and his wife owned the Mountain Aire Cottages on Asheville Highway. The old-style roadside cottages were recently bulldozed and that property is on the market.

“Fred was a community leader in every sense of the word," former City Manager Chris Carter said. "As mayor every initiative he undertook always related back to what he thought was best for the entire community.  He taught the staff that we did not just have jobs at City Hall, but were called to perform public service.  I am grateful for his influence in my life and career.”
 
“I had the privilege of working with Mayor Niehoff for all of his 12 years as mayor," said Mayor Barbara Volk, a longtime council member. "He was both a mentor and a friend. He had definite plans when he campaigned, including hiring a professional city manager, changing to non-partisan elections and growing the city. After election, he followed through on all of these, as well as his many other commitments as our mayor. I will miss him.”

"Fred was a mentor and most importantly a friend," Councilman Jeff  Miller said. "As mayor his door was always open, he wanted to hear what you had to say. He relished the role and was very good at it. Fred and Caroline came to Hendersonville this summer and shared with many of us his health challenge and his decision to forgo an aggressive treatment that would have taken away any quality of life. He decided to enjoy what time he had left with his friends and the family that he loved so much. Fred left us on his own terms."

A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke United Methodist Church at 3080 Okatie Highway in Bluffton. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that friends and family make memorials to the Cemetery Endowment Fund at St. Luke Methodist Church, P.O. Box 2779, Bluffton, S.C., or to Hospice of the Low Country. P.O. Box 3877, Bluffton, S.C., 29910.