[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 121 (Friday, September 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1711-E1712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SARGE FRYE OBITUARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 4, 2003

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today many South 
Carolinians mourn the loss of Sarge Frye, who died yesterday of heart 
failure at the age of 90. I ask that his obituary be included in the 
Record, as printed today in the State newspaper.

                    [From the State, Sept. 4, 2003]

       Columbia.--Mr. Frye died Wednesday, September 3, 2003. Born 
     in Medon, Tennessee, he was a son of the late Leonard A. Frye 
     and Pearl Daniel Frye Allin. A combat veteran of World War II 
     and Korea, he landed at Utah Beach on D-Day. He was decorated 
     with two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, and Combat Infantry 
     Badge. He retired in 1953 as a master sergeant after 23 years 
     of service in the U.S. Army. While serving in the Armed 
     Forces, Sarge was an outstanding athlete, participating in 
     basketball, baseball, softball and track as a player and 
     coach. He met his wife, Ruby, while stationed in Alabama. The

[[Page E1712]]

     family later moved to Columbia's Fort Jackson, where he was 
     responsible for athletic facilities. Mrs. Frye died in 1997.
       It was in 1953 that he came to work for the University of 
     South Carolina and was placed in charge of athletic 
     facilities. His duties were expanded to include supervision 
     of grounds for the entire university. South Carolina named 
     its baseball facility, ``Sarge Frye Field'' in 1980 to honor 
     its groundskeeper. The American Baseball Coaches Association 
     named Frye National Groundskeeper of the Year in 1993. Sarge 
     retired in 1977, but continued to supervise operations 
     through mid-1997. In addition to groundskeeping and 
     landscaping duties, Sarge operated the game clock for men's 
     and women's basketball games at the Carolina Coliseum for 
     many years.
       Sarge Frye was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame 
     and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. He was an 
     honorary member of the USC Association of Lettermen and the 
     USC Alumni Association.
       Surviving are his daughter, Nancy Frye Stiehr of Columbia; 
     son, Jerry L. Frye and his wife, Jayne, of Greenville; 
     sister, Norma Pope of Dallas, Texas; brothers, Kenneth Frye 
     of Jackson, Tenn., Huey Frye of Florida, and Martin Allin of 
     Boliver, Tenn.; four grandchildren, Jay L. Frye and his wife, 
     Kim, of Columbia, Mamie Frye Clayton and her husband, 
     Richard, of Columbia, Debbie Stiehr Smith and her husband, 
     Allen, of Charlotte, and Eric Stiehr and his wife, Marianne, 
     of Columbia; and five great-grandchildren, Cole and Tucker 
     Smith, Mary-Riley, Heyward and Emma Clayton. He was 
     predeceased by a son-in-law, Pete Stiehr.

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