Dr. Floyd Fried Obituary

Floyd Alan Fried, 88, passed away on January 22, 2025, after over a decade of progressive Parkinson’s disease. He was born on March 23, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, as the only child of Ann Kornbluh Fried and Herb Fried. His father was a produce wholesaler, sparking a low-level, lifelong antipathy to vegetables. Following graduation from Brooklyn College in 1957, he attended medical school at the University of Chicago. He received his MD in 1961, and served an internship in surgery at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center before returning to the University of Chicago for residency training in urology. Upon completion of residency, he was offered a faculty position in the Department of Surgery, Section of Urology at the University of Chicago, and, in 1967, began his career there as an Assistant Professor. 

Three years later, in 1970, Dr. Fried was recruited as the second-ever Division Chief of the Department of Surgery’s Division of Urology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served 23 years as Division Chief, until 1993, a term which included signature accomplishments such as the doubling the size of the resident training program, and encouraging development of sub-specialties within the growing Division of Urology.

As evidenced in the more than 80 peer-reviewed publications that he authored or co-authored, Dr. Fried pursued a broad range of clinical and research interests during his career, including the etiologies of pyelonephritis and stone formation, the treatment of cancers of the prostate, bladder and kidney, and the causes of and treatments for impotence. Following his retirement in 2000, Dr. Fried remained involved in mentoring medical students and residents in UNC’s Department of Urology, an aspect of his long career that always brought him great joy.

Floyd met Ellen Shapiro on her first day of class at the University of Chicago. They were married in 1962, had two children, and spent many happy decades in Chapel Hill, designing and building a house near campus, opening and operating Shoes at the Square, Ellen’s longtime business, and enjoying travel and family time together. Following Ellen’s death, he married JoAnn Weissman in 2008. They became residents at Carolina Meadows, with many winters spent in the warmth and sunshine of south Florida. 

In addition to entertaining his grandsons with tricks and games from his Brooklyn childhood, Floyd baked a renowned Cuban roll, fished many of the country’s finest trout streams, enjoyed listening to and had great knowledge of classical music and opera, and was an accomplished author of both poetry and prose, spending many years as an active member of the Carolina Meadows writers group, and producing two books of vignettes and anecdotes from his childhood and his time as a physician. He was an avid Tar Heel, and particularly loved the ritual of walking to UNC basketball games -- first at Carmichael, then the Dean Dome -- with his family. 

Floyd was predeceased by his parents, his first wife, Ellen Shapiro Fried, in 2005, and his second wife, JoAnn Weissman, in 2023, and his grandson, Jonah Barbour. He is survived by his daughter, Deborah Freed of Blacksburg, VA, his son, Daniel Fried (Francesca) of Greenville, SC, five grandsons (Aaron Barbour (Kelly), and Sam, Jacob, Gabriel, and Caleb Fried), and two great-granddaughters (Adelaide and Zoey Barbour), as well as a brother-in-law, Robert Shapiro.

Floyd and his family are enormously grateful to Stefanie Watkins and to the entire caregiver team at Carolina Meadows who have been his “village” over the past 18 months, providing incredibly loving and thoughtful care that allowed him to remain in the comfort of his own home despite the increasing challenges of Parkinson’s disease.

A memorial celebration of life will be held in the Lecture Hall in the Activities Building at Carolina Meadows, 100 Whippoorwill Lane, Chapel Hill, NC, 27517 at 1 pm on Sunday, March 23; all are welcome. 

In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial contributions to the Floyd A. Fried in Urology Fund at the UNC Health Foundation at http://www.unchf.org/floydfried, or checks may be made payable to the UNC Health Foundation with the Floyd A. Fried in Urology Fund in the memo line and mailed to UNC Health Foundation, c/o Kara Raynor, 123 W. Franklin Street, Suite 510, Chapel Hill, NC 27516.