Frederick Lack Sawabini passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 5, 2026, surrounded by his family, after a long battle with myelofibrosis. He was 74.

Fred was born on October 31, 1951, in Burlington, Vermont, to Dr. Wadi Issa Sawabini and Harriet Colgate "Abbe" Lack Sawabini. His father was born in Jaffa, Palestine, and came to America during the Second World War. Abbe graduated from Smith College and met Wadi in Vermont while serving the Episcopal Church. Fred grew up with his siblings, Wadi Jr., Stuart, and Julia, in a loving home that embraced everything Vermont had to offer: skiing the Green Mountains in winter, and summers of sailing and water-skiing on Lake Champlain.

Fred graduated from Eaglebrook School and Phillips Academy Andover, where he met Gay Luster, a student at Abbot Academy. He went on to graduate from Williams College. Fred and Gay married in 1985 and raised three children together in Wilton, Connecticut.

Fred began his career at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in New York, rising to Vice President. Excited by the challenge of building a new venture, he next raised the financing to build a ceramic tile factory in Idaho. After selling the factory, Fred went on to spend a decade at Channel One News, opening the company's office in Hong Kong before returning to New York as President of Sales and Marketing. He closed his career as a Senior Vice President at Viacom and CBS.

In 2017 Fred left New York, first for Connecticut and then home to Vermont, settling in Shelburne. He skied the Green Mountains and took a series of motorcycle trips with his son. He played guitar, rode his bicycles, and got out on Lake Champlain whenever he could. Even in his final weeks he was riding twenty miles at a stretch and boating on the lake.

Fred is survived by his children, Alex, James (Gaurie), and Polly; his grandchildren, Elizabeth ("Eliza") and Peter; his siblings, Wadi Jr. (Mary) and Julia (Jeanne); his sister-in-law Nicoline, Stuart's wife; his nieces and nephews: Wadi Jr. and Mary's children, Issa (Erica), Annie, and Jake (Meg), and Stuart and Nicoline's daughters, Kathryn (Dan) and Abigail (Ryan); and many beloved cousins and friends. He was predeceased by his parents, Wadi and Abbe, and by his brother, Stuart.

The family is deeply grateful to Carol Georges, whose companionship and devoted care brought Fred comfort and joy in his final year.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 18, 2026, at the Charlotte Congregational Church, 403 Church Hill Road, Charlotte, Vermont. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in Fred's memory to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to support cancer research, online at dana-farber.org/gift or by mail to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284.