loersheimer was born in Horschst im Odenwalt, Germany in 1931. His family suffered through the terrible evening called Kristallnacht, or Night of the Broken Glass, when in 1938, Nazi soldiers destroyed all Jewish businesses. Fred was just a young boy at the time, but this event has always been part of his life.

His family was fortunate enough to escape Nazi Germany in 1939, and Fred has devoted much of his life to his involvement with Judaism and educating others about the Holocaust. For the last 15 years, he has served as a volunteer docent at Holocaust Museum of Houston. He also served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.