Katherine Frye

Katherine B. Frye, the third oldest of nine children of Henry Alfred Sommermeyer and Eva Marie (Sherrard) Sommermeyer, was born at Carroll, Iowa on February 16, 1910. The family later moved to Scribner, Nebraska where Katherine graduated from high school in 1927. Katherine was employed at the Scribner Post Office during the depression to help support her family. Katherine and William Arthur Frye were married at Lincoln, Nebraska on December 8, 1937. They established a home in the Benson area of Omaha, Nebraska where Katherine lived while Bill was serving in the military during World War II. In 1947, they moved to Holdrege, Nebraska where they built and operated a Dairy Queen. Their marriage was blessed with two children, Virginia and Jack. During the busy season, Virginia and Jack worked at the Dairy Queen with their parents. In 1970, Katherine and Bill retired, sold the Dairy Queen, and eventually moved to Fremont, Nebraska. Katherine was Past Worthy Matron of the Order of Eastern Star, member of the Rebecca, Lions, and Elks Lodges. She was an avid reader and enjoyed crossword puzzles. She had developed a gift for piano playing and graciously shared her musical ...[more]

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ents with others. As recent as this past summer, Katherine played requests during their family reunion and often broke into honky-tonk or jazz music. Bill and Katherine had been married for 44 years when Bill died suddenly in 1981. Katherine eventually moved to Omaha and later lived with Virginia in Tempe, Arizona where she was again active in her church. In June of 2003, Katherine moved to Iowa and lived with her son Jack and his family near Silver City. It was at this home where Katherine died on December 13, 2003 at the age of 93 years, 9 months, and 27 days. In addition to her husband Bill, Katherine was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, William Sommermeyer, Carl Sommermeyer, and George Sommermeyer; sisters, Thelma (Hoppe) O'Conner and Margaret (Rohlf) Witt. She is survived by her children, Jack Frye and his wife Linda of rural Silver City, IA and Virginia Meier of Tempe, AZ; 11 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and one great great grandson; sisters, Blanche Beckenhauer of West Point, NE, Irene Pick of Berryville, AR and Jean Chisholm of Fremont, NE; nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends.