Kuhn remembers many days from his childhood playing along the railroad tracks, which is now the Spanish Moss Trail. He and his friends found spots along the tracks and trestles to go shrimping, fishing and crabbing as the surrounding pluff mud enriched his soul. He remembers placing pennies on the tracks, waiting for the train whistle to blow and retrieving the bronze coins after they were flattened by the oncoming cars. He and his cronies would climb telephone poles along the tracks to see who could get further up the pole, some reaching the t-shape and unscrewing the insulator caps off for souvenirs or skipping them in the river. Kuhn smiles, “We took life for granted here. It was so special growing up in Beaufort.”

While attending the University of South Carolina pursuing his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry, Kuhn came home one weekend as a result of a winter storm power failure in Columbia. USC-Beaufort was hosting a Valentine’s Day party, where he recognized a former female classmate from Beaufort High. He asked the young lady, Everette Floyd to dance. The next day, while attending service at the Baptist Church of Beaufort, he saw her sitting in the pew beneath him. He asked her out on a date, and she later would become the future Mrs. Everette Kuhn.

In the midst of getting his undergraduate degree on the scholastic path of becoming a doctor, Kuhn took an elective in Business Law taught by beloved Beaufortonian and former Master-In-Equity Judge, Thomas Kemmerlin. He began to love law, and without changing his major, set a new goal to become an attorney. He got a job working for the SC Trial Lawyers Association, setting up for speakers around the state and meeting the best of the best. He took the initiative to start a brief bank, in which he would collect and share briefs from attorneys all over the state, well before the days of the internet. If someone needed a brief concerning personal injury, negligence or any other matter, chances are Kuhn would have something relating to the case. This brief bank became the nuts and bolts on the substance of law in South Carolina.

After enrolling in the University of South Carolina School of Law, Kuhn had access to a state of the art online research computer. He began charging attorneys hourly for legal research while attending classes and learned yet even more about cases in every county in the state.
Kuhn graduated from USC School of Law in 1980 and married Everette the same year. Jim Moss, his neighbor from Broome Lane, offered him a job at his practice in Beaufort, where Kuhn always knew he wanted to live again. He prepared cases in all sorts of law at first, from real estate to civil litigation. He then gained a wealth of experience in the courtroom on the military side defending drill instructors and their standards of procedures. He enjoyed arguing those cases, sometimes preventing defendants from going to Leavenworth, the United States Penitentiary, for life.

Kuhn, now 4 decades with Moss, Kuhn and Fleming, mostly represents plaintiffs in civil litigation. He is a member of the Democratic Party and got involved initially to be a voice for schools, infrastructure and wise tax spending in our County. When the upstate was becoming more influential to state and federal funding, Kuhn believed Beaufort was getting neglected. Kuhn explains, “It wasn’t a Democratic thing or a Republican thing. It was a Beaufort thing. We needed more organization on the local level and everyone working together to improve our community and govern properly.”

Moss, Kuhn and Fleming monetarily support many organizations in Beaufort. When it comes to giving his time, Kuhn is a champion of the Beaufort-Jasper YMCA of the Lowcountry in Port Royal, also known as the Wardle Family YMCA. “It’s not just a gym. There so many great programs the Y offers like the Learn to Read program and their senior and afterschool programs,” says Kuhn, who is the former Chairman of the Board. He and Everette also give their time to the Boys and Girls Club of the Lowcountry.

Kuhn was interviewed only a week after his dad’s passing. His father, also a well-respected gentleman of the Lowcountry and Kuhn’s namesake, played an important role in building the younger Kuhn’s character and his love of Beaufort. “Of course I love the natural beauty here, but it’s really the people. After dad died, I really learned how important hugs and handshakes are. I learned how important loved ones and friends are,” as Kuhn reverently and humbly acknowledged his father and his community.

H. Fred Kuhn, Jr. is known for his diligence to defending the law, his civic goodwill and especially his friendly smile. “I’m just loving life. It doesn’t get any better than Beaufort.” If you don’t know Fred and see him around in Beaufort, take the time to shake his hand. You’ll be glad you did.