[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 53 (Friday, May 5, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING FRIEDA FRY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SHERROD BROWN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 4, 2006

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, March 8, 2006, marked the death of 
Frieda M. Fry, age 94, an honored resident of my district. Her passing 
prompts me to remark on this remarkable woman, and how she exemplifies 
qualities that we should encourage in all of our citizens.
  A lifelong citizen of Summit County, and 50 year resident of 
Richfield Township, Frieda was wife of Federal Administrative Law Judge 
Walter Logan Fry, who preceded her in death in 1978. Judge Fry served 
long and well in federal service, culminating with his appointment to 
the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, DHEW, including 3 years as ALJ in 
charge of the Cleveland, Ohio, Office.
  Frieda was born in Barberton, Ohio, and traces her roots to the Swiss 
and German settlers of the early eighteenth century. She graduated from 
Akron East High School in 1929; and received the Diploma for Elementary 
Teaching from Kent State College (now University) in 1931.
  From 1931 to 1935, she taught Fourth Grade at the Betty Jane School 
in Akron. Beginning in 1941, she taught elementary grades for the 
Boston Rural School District in Peninsula. Beginning in 1962, she 
taught elementary grades at Hillcrest Elementary School in Richfield, 
Ohio.
  Mrs. Fry's interest in learning began early. Son, W. Logan Fry, 
recounts: ``mother told us that when she was a little girl, she would 
spend half her allowance on lunch--and the other half on books. Books 
opened the whole world to her. At her death, her personal library 
included books on art, science, religion, medicine, psychology, nature, 
history and the cultures of the world.''
  Following Judge Fry's death in 1978, Mrs. Fry traveled five 
continents. She traveled across China; visited small textile factories 
in India; rode on the backs of elephants in Kashmir; and experienced 
the smells of the opium dens of Katmandu. On this later trip, a very 
finely dressed gentleman with a well-trimmed mustache, who described 
himself as a diplomat, asked if she had any daughters--and volunteered 
to care for them generously if she did. Mrs. Fry politely declined, but 
continued in a mutually rewarding conversation.
  In Russia, she attended a performance of the Moscow Ballet on a 
wintry Christmas Eve; and enjoyed the circus in Uzbekistan. The jet 
flight to Tashkent, with goats and chickens on the passenger list, was 
a harrowing but thrilling experience.
  Frieda made many trips to Germany and Switzerland. On one such trip, 
with daughter Nancy Fry Laessig, two German citizens on a facing train 
car seat said, in their native language: ``Look at those two Americans, 
they don't even know the difference between the Danube and the Rhine.'' 
Nancy translated, and Mrs. Fry shot back: ``We are guests in your 
country, you should be telling us all about your country, not 
disparaging your guests.'' That led to a deeper conversation, and her 
German critics soon became friends, sharing ideas and experiences until 
their train arrived in Zurich.
  Mrs. Fry also traveled in and across Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, 
Slovakia, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Argentina, 
Uruguay, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, among others.
  Moreover, as part of Richfield's ``Mundialization'' program, she 
entertained friends from Wolfach, Germany; and visited them in their 
own homes in Wolfach. (In the 1960s, Richfield, Ohio became America's 
first `world town,' followed by Minneapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis and 
Boston, among others.)
  Frieda Fry placed her beacon atop of her basket; and has served as an 
example for two generations of her own children. Grandson Michael Fry 
who competed for the United States in Amateur Rope Skipping 
Competitions in Korea, Australia, Belgium and Canada; granddaughter 
Bonnie Laessig who traveled across Norway with her paternal 
grandfather, artist Robert Laessig; granddaughter Holly Laessig who 
studied language and culture in Bangkok, Thailand; granddaughter Rachel 
Mitton Fry who studied language in Tel Aviv and biochemistry in Munich; 
and granddaughter Elizabeth Anne Fry who studied Russian in Moscow, 
built homes in South Africa with President Jimmy Carter and Habitat for 
Humanity and, last year, taught elementary students in Tanzania.
  The qualities that Frieda M. Fry demonstrated in her daily life are 
well suited for all Americans--the delight in learning, the calling to 
teach and spread knowledge, and the engagement with the people with 
whom we share our planet. For her, 9/11 was not a call to isolation and 
retreat, and certainly not an excuse to erect rigid barriers designed 
to bar students, artists, immigrants and refugees from our shores.
  Frieda Fry embraced the people of the world, and their diverse 
cultures.
  We will all miss her.

                          ____________________