Kannur, Oct. 31 -- Former Indian hockey goalkeeper and the first Keralite to win an Olympic medal, Manuel Frederick, passed away today at a private hospital in Bangalore, where he was undergoing treatment for cancer.
He was 78. His wife, Seethala, predeceased him last September, and he is survived by two daughters, Freshina Pravin (Bangalore) and Fenila Tinu Thomas (Mumbai). The funeral will be held in Bangalore tomorrow, according to family sources.
Born on October 20, 1947, at Burnassery near Kannur, to Joseph and Sara, Manuel studied at St. Michael Anglo-Indian School in Kannur and later at Army School in Bangalore before joining the Indian Army in 1965. Hailing from Kannur, he later settled in Bangalore with his family.
Manuel Freder...