Fred Aarts, 83, skilled hobbyist, furniture maker

Fred Aarts needed a hobby. He’d hung up his tools as an electrical contractor, a trade he practiced more than three decades. Retirement loomed. “He picked up furniture making,” said his son, Rick Aarts of Lawrenceville.

Mr. Aarts started out making little pieces, then graduated to tables, chairs, even bedroom furniture.

“He made it all — dressers, bed, nighttime stands,” his son said. “All five of my kids — their bedroom furniture is made by their grandpa.”

Fred S. Aarts, 83, of Lawrenceville died Sept. 15 of bone cancer at his home. A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday at Wages Funeral Home chapel in Snellville. Tom M. Wages Funeral Service is handling arrangements.

He and his wife, Helen Aarts, moved from Tampa to Lawrenceville in 2004 to live with their son, Rick. They turned the basement into an in-law suite. Mr. Aarts built the kitchen cabinets.

He used oak, birch and poplar wood for his creations. Helen, his wife of 62 years, said his pieces were store quality, made with perfect joints and attention to detail. In a word, beautiful.

“He first got into model trains, but that didn’t last,” his wife said. “But he made furniture for more than 20 years.”

Additional survivors include three daughters, Carol Peterson of Phoenix, Pat Reid of Winchester, Ill., and Nancy Aarts of Wooster, Ohio; a son, Tom Aarts of Austin, Texas; 17 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.