Freddie Mac CFO Kellermann remembered as funny, calming

— -- For more than five years, David Kellermann worked on the prickliest issues and investigations facing beleaguered mortgage giant Freddie Mac. But to those who worked with him, the acting chief financial officer was typically buoyant and a calming influence on those around him.

On Wednesday, Kellermann, 41, was found dead at his spacious home in Vienna, Va.

Police say it appeared he committed suicide.

Nancy Bull, regional administrator for the medical examiner's office, said Thursday that a final determination won't be made until all lab results are received. But she said preliminary findings are consistent with a suicide.

Kellermann's death was a shock to friends and neighbors, as such tragedies typically are. They described him as happy. But it was clear Kellermann had long been dealing with an extraordinary amount of stress.

The company he worked for during the past 16 years has been facing federal, civil — and, more recently, criminal — investigations since 2003 for business and accounting practices.

Whether it was an earnings restatement or a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Kellermann was always "part of the team working on it," said Tim McBride, former Freddie Mac senior V.P. of government relations.

Last month, Freddie Mac disclosed Kellermann was one of the Freddie Mac senior executives who would be getting a hefty retention bonus. Kellermann was going to get $850,000, paid in several installments.

An uproar ensued on Capitol Hill. At about the same time, neighbor Paul Unger said, he saw a van parked outside the Kellermann home with someone apparently guarding it.

Despite the years of pressure, McBride said Kellermann was typically the one who kept the mood light.

"He was someone people enjoyed working with — just a clever, fun guy to be around," McBride said.

McBride said Kellermann beamed with pride when he talked about his daughter, Grace, 5, and his wife, Donna. He was known as a devoted father around the Northern Virginia neighborhood, where he and Donna hosted a Halloween party and put up lively Christmas and Halloween decorations. "He was just an incredible neighbor and very friendly," said Karen Layton, who lives on the same street.