Debbie & Buddy

Debbie Fredericks ’68 and Buddy Coote ’67

Debbie and Buddy vacationing on the Outer Banks, North Carolina in 1975, two years after getting married

How did you meet? After graduating from ASL, Debbie and I lost touch for years. During a stopover in London on my way back to the US after visiting my family in Nairobi, Kenya, I caught up with a few friends who told me that Debbie’s family had moved to Maryland, not far from where I lived. I soon showed up at her door.

What was your first impression of Debbie? I thought she looked great.

What was your first date? We met for drinks in Georgetown in Washington, DC.

How would your ASL friends and teachers describe your relationship in high school? Debbie sent a note to Mrs. Bradley (ASL 1953-71) after our wedding and she congratulated us.

What are your favorite shared ASL memories? We have made new memories by visiting London numerous times over the years, sometimes with our daughter. We like the theaters and are fans of Chelsea Football Club, where my father used to take me. We have revisited the old school and checked out the new campus too.

What is your favorite thing about Debbie? We have a shared love of music. We have never missed a Rolling Stones concert, a throwback to our ASL days when Debbie’s Marylebone flat was near Mick Jagger’s and Charlie Watts’s. 

Describe your life today. We live in Potomac, Maryland, just across the Potomac River from where I used to work at the CIA. We like Maryland because it’s close to the ski slopes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We also like to ski out west, usually with our daughter’s family. She and her husband have given us two grandsons for us to play with. Debbie is now retired and I am semi-retired after 43 years.

Where do you see yourselves in 10 years? We look forward to more skiing. My alternative career preference was to be a ski bum.

Buddy and Debbie at an ASL Class of 1967 reunion in Coronado, California, 2019