Chase Alumni Association

 

Roman Friedrich III, former president of Chase Manhattan Bank Canada in Toronto, died in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, on February 2, 2025, after a brief, critical illness.  

 

Friedrich was born in Queens, NY, and graduated Rutgers University and NYU Business School. He joined Chase Manhattan Bank, NY in 1970 and rose quickly to VP Latin America before taking the Canadian posting.

 

He became Managing Director at Burns Fry/CIBC Wood Gundy, responsible for Mining in the Western Hemisphere. In 1992 he moved to Lancaster Financial/TD Bank in NY responsible for Mining Worldwide.

 

In 1998, living in Rumson, NJ, he created Roman Friedrich & Company LTD, which provided investment banking advisory services to the mining industry, focused on mergers & acquisitions.

 

Friedrich was a member of the Board of Directors of Zincore Metals, Vancouve,r with operations in Peru. In 1995, he became a Trustee for the Mutual Funds managed by Claymore Securities, which was acquired by Guggenheim Advisors and, from 2003-2023 he was an Independent Trustee on the Board of Directors of Guggenheim Funds in the United States.

 

After living in West Vancouver, BC for 10 years, Friedrich and his wife, Stephanie, moved in 2011 to Rancho Santa Fe. He loved medieval history, inspired by a collection of metal model knights who lived during the 100 Years' War between England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries. He wrote several histories of specific knights whose lives and actions exemplified the politics, values and the culture of those times. 

 

He also wrote several books on the history, art and music of the Holy Roman Empire, of Bologna and Venice, France and Israel. In 2014-15, he studied history at the University of California, San Diego.

 

Friedrich's lifelong goal of becoming a teacher was satisfied when he studied for two years and became a docent at the San Diego Museum of Art, happily studying and volunteering his time to tour visitors around the collections.

 

Among his survivors are his wife, five children and seven grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be sent to San Diego Museum of Art