James Edward “Ed” Fry passed away on February 23, 2018, surrounded by family and in the thoughts and prayers of friends and loved ones. He was 92 years old.
He was born in St. Joseph, MO, on August 31, 1925, to Edward Arthur Fry and Louise McDonough Fry. One of his most vivid early childhood memories was the stock market crash of 1929. Over and over, he would hear people talk about the crash. For a long time he wondered why he hadn’t heard anything “crash” when everyone else did.
His father became very ill in 1930, and they moved from St. Joseph to the family home in Sedgwick, KS, where his father died later that year. Ed completed his education in Sedgwick and lettered in football and basketball during high school. He was the last surviving member of the Sedgwick Class of 1943.
Two months after graduation he enlisted in United States Army. During WW II, he served in both the European and Pacific theaters in the 341st Infantry Regiment of the 86th (Black Hawk) Division.
He married Dolores Douglass in June 1946. Before starting a family, they took flight training together in the inaugural class at the Sedgwick Airport. After sixteen days of training, Ed was the first to fly solo in the airport’s new Cessna 120.
He is survived by their four children, Doug (Marty) Fry of Roswell, GA; Dianne (Don) Huggins of Fall Leaf, KS; Kent (Diane) Fry of Lawrence, KS; and Cassie (Steve) Langdon of Lampasas, TX; as well as eleven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He is also survived by Mary Ann Womack, his companion of more than thirty years.
Ed worked in the dairy business in Sedgwick for 10 years before he began a career in marketing management at Bristol-Myers. He joined the Noxzema Chemical Company as a sales representative (Rocky Mountain region) in 1957, and the family moved to Evergreen, CO. He was promoted to the national sales department in 1960, and the family moved to Baltimore, MD. During that time, Noxzema was conducting market research in four cities on its new line of medicated cosmetics. “Thera-Blem” and “Blema-Glow” were names considered for the new line before the company settled on “CoverGirl,” which it launched nationally in 1961. He was promoted to product manager, a newly created position, in 1962 and became new products manager in 1967. He joined the International Division of Noxell (formerly Noxzema) in 1970 and relocated to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1971. He retired from Noxell in 1980 as the general manger of Latin America.
Ed moved to Lawrence in 1980 where he enjoyed golf, family and friends. He spent countless hours at DCABA, YSI Sports Complex and Sport 2 Sport watching his grandchildren at play. He was a proud member of Dorsey-Liberty Post 14 of the American Legion. Ed and Mary Ann were regulars at the Legion where they spent most of their evenings on the dance floor.
The family wishes to express its sincere appreciation to the dedicated staff at Pioneer Ridge and Great Lakes Caring Hospice for the exceptional care Ed received during the past few weeks.
Plans for a celebration of life are being made for a date later this spring. Memorial contributions may be made online to the American Heart Association or sent in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana, Lawrence, KS.
