Self-proclaimed celebrity made most out of life
Huntsville Times
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
By PATRICIA C. McCARTER
Times Staff Writer
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The city has lost its best-looking man. For years, Frederick Binner introduced himself that way, though none of his family exactly remembers when - or why - he started it. "That's just what he'd say," said the handsome man's widow, Martha Sue Binner. "He'd say, 'Hi, I'm Fred Binner, the best-looking man in Huntsville.' They'd either laugh or say something like, 'No, you might be the second best, but I'm the best. "Either way, it made them laugh, and that's what he loved." Binner died last week from lymphoma, cancer that had been in remission for almost a year when it recurred. Despite his doctor's prognosis, he thought he had beaten the illness, "because he always thought positive." Binner, 70, had some measure of celebrity in Huntsville, not only for declaring himself the city's best-looking citizen, but also because he dressed up regularly. He took to wearing a cape at engineering trade shows and conferences while working in marketing at Cape Environmental for five years. When he went to work for Environmental Resource Management, he wanted a new gimmick, so he had his wife made him an Uncle Sam costume. Soon, he started wearing it in the Veterans Day parade, Panoply, the Hispanic Festival and to schools. He had other costumes he'd wear on holidays. While he was dressed as a cow for Halloween, his wife had to rush him to the hospital for an erratic heartbeat. "He was laying on the table, getting an EKG, wearing that costume with udders," his wife of 23 years said. "The people in the hospital had a great time with him." |
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His wife had costumes, too. Shortly before his cancer returned, she dressed as a bunny and he dressed as a chicken and they rode around town in their 1978 Volkswagen convertible on Easter weekend, smiling and waving. "He liked to make people feel good," she said. Life wasn't easy on Binner. His father died when he was 5. Though his mother remarried and had three more children, his stepfather died when he was 12. Four years later, his mother died. Binner went to live with his sister, Mary Ann, where he developed his carefree outlook on life. "Mary Ann wanted everyone to have a good time," Martha Sue said. "She passed that on to Fred." Binner's daughter, Lynelle Lamons, said her father was not oblivious to the hardships of life; he could just see beyond the bad stuff. "Even if you're in a horrible situation, you flip it around and find the good," Lamons said. "There's good in everything if you look hard enough. "Dad's philosophy was that life's a party. If you aren't going to have fun, don't bother showing up." |
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