FRY, Elsa Bertha WELCKER 1908/9 - 2014

FRY, WELCKER, EHEHALT, EDWARDS, KRANE, PAYNE, HANSEN, RANK

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/22/2014 at 20:57:10

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Friday, May 16, 2014
Page 8

Elsa Bertha WELCKER FRY

Elsa FRY passed away at Fountain View Village, Fountain Hills, Arizona, Sunday, May 4, 2014. Born Elsa Bertha WELCKER in Coshocton, Ohio, the daughter of Paul and Maria EHEHALT WELCKER, she was 105 years of age at her passing. Elsa had two older siblings, Joseph WELCKER and Martha WELCKER EDWARDS, both of whom preceded her in death.

Elsa spent most of her childhood in St. Paul, Minnesota, graduating from Central High School. Following high school, Elsa graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1930 and married William Louden FRY on August 2, 1930. Son William FRY Jr. was born in 1931 and daughter Marsha in 1933. Soon after, the family moved to Fairfield, Iowa.

Elsa became an involved citizen of Fairfield, active in the Women's Club and the Gray Ladies. She was a member of PEO Chapter HA and remained a PEO member for 75 years in Iowa and later in Arizona. A leader in Fairfield Women's Club, she actively raised funds to acquire the McElhenny (sic - McElhinny) House to serve as a home for the organization. She enjoyed playing cards and was twice Fairfield community bridge champion.

In her later years, she enjoyed family card games of hand and foot and solitaire.

Elsa and her husband Bill, maintained a second, much loved home in the small alpine village of Leavenworth, Washington, since 1962 when they fell in love with the area. Perched above the Icicle River, "Gurgly House" held a special place in Elsa's heart and provided her and her family many hours of happiness through the years.

In 1990, Elsa moved her primary home from Fairfield to Rio Verde, Arizona. She loved the desert and the community and became immersed in the community relations committee of the community association as well as Chapter EB of PEO. Fountain View Village became her home in 2001 where she was one of the earliest residents.

She is survived by children William FRY Jr. (Bill) who is at home in both Mesa, Arizona and Kingston, Washington, and Marcia FRY KRANE and her husband Robert KRANE of Rio Verde, Arizona, and Denver, Colorado. She also is survived by grandchildren Christopher PAYNE of Palo Alto, California; Kristin HANSEN of Prairie Village, Kansas; W. Alan KRANE of Lakeville, Minnesota; Kathrin RANK of Longmont, Colorado; Andrew KRANE of Minnetonka, Minnesota; Lisa FRY of Seattle, and William FRY III of Chelan, Washington. Elsa has 12 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren, all living in the West and Midwest.

Memorials may be given to the PEO Program for continuing education or Fairfield Women's Club.

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*Copied with permission from The Fairfield Ledger, Inc. This material may NOT be copied and re-posted in any public venue such as Ancestry or Find A Grave without permission from The Fairfield Ledger ~ copyright restrictions apply.
*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot 3rd.172. Her obituary photo gives a birth year of 1909, however her gravestone notes her birth year as 1908. Unknown at this point which is correct.

Jefferson Obituaries maintained by Joey Stark.
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