Background
Froehlke, Robert Frederick was born on October 15, 1922 in Neenah, Wisconsin, United States. He was a son of Herbert O. and Lillian (Porath) Froehlke.
Froehlke, Robert Frederick was born on October 15, 1922 in Neenah, Wisconsin, United States. He was a son of Herbert O. and Lillian (Porath) Froehlke.
After the war Froehlke attended the University of Wisconsin Law School. He graduated in 1949.
In 1951, Froehlke joined the legal department of the Sentry Insurance Company and he later became an executive with the company. When Laird became Secretary of Defense, Froehlke was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Administration. He served until 1971 and during his tenure he was assigned responsibility for all Department of Defense intelligence resources and he was chairman of the Defense Investigative Review Council.
Froehlke became in July 1971 and served until May 1973. Under his administration, the Army redeployed its last troops from Vietnam and converted from the draft to an all-volunteer force. In addition, Army administration of the Ryukyu Islands was ended, and U.S. biological warfare facilities were closed in order to comply with international treaties and conventions.
As , Froehlke also was responsible for the action changing from dishonorable to honorable the discharges of the African-American soldiers who had been falsely accused of crimes in the 1906 Brownsville Affair. After resigning as , Froehlke returned to Sentry, serving as the company's president until 1976 when he left to become president of the Health Insurance Association of America. He then became president of the American Council of Life Insurers where he served until 1982 when he became chairman of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States where he served until 1987 when he became president and chief executive officer of the IDS Mutual Fund Group.
After his 1993 retirement Froehlke resided in Minneapolis, where he was active in raising funds for civic and charitable causes. He and then University of Wisconsin, Madison chancellor Donna Shala co-chaired that school's first major fund drive. He maintained a summer home in Waupaca, Wisconsin after relocating to Scottsdale, Arizona.
On November 9, 1946 he married Nancy Jean Barnes. They had three children: Bruce, Jane, Ann, Scott.