Mary Elizabeth Fry

Mary Elizabeth Fry, the daughter of Harry Harold and Viola Lucille (Brensel) Fry, was born March 31, 1942, on her parents’ farm in rural Audubon County, Iowa and died November 6, 2021, at the Audubon County Memorial Hospital in Audubon, Iowa at the age of 79 years, 7 months, and 5 days.

Mary was one of seven children and grew up on the family farm. She attended rural school at Melville #9 through eighth grade then graduated from the Audubon High School with the Class of 1962.

Following graduation she helped on the family farm and was employed as a seasonal worker for Garst Seed Company in Coon Rapids, Iowa for several years. She transferred and worked at Walton’s in Atlantic, Iowa for a few years then in 1975 Mary was employed at Jaydon and held a manufacturing position. She later was employed at Wells in Manning, Iowa for a number of years where they manufactured car parts before she began working for Gus Construction in Casey, Iowa where she and her sister Bernadine were flag operators for over 26 years. Mary then has been employed at the Blue Grass Inn at the Waspy’s Complex in Audubon, Iowa.

Mary was very kind and was always there to help family members. She and Bernadine rented a house together in Audubon where they enjoyed reading their romance and western novels. She also enjoyed watching the old western programs on the television like Bonanza and Gunsmoke. But her greatest passion was spending time with her siblings and her nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents, Harry H. Sr. and Viola Fry; and her sisters, Nora Jean Bertelsen and Bernadine Fry.

Survivors include her sister, Donna Fry of Audubon, Iowa and her brothers, Emerson Fry and Robert Fry both of Audubon, Iowa and Harry Fry, Jr. of Sedalia, Missouri; her many nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews whom she considered her grandchildren and great grandchildren, along with other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be conducted by Reverend Philip Beisswenger on Monday morning, November 15, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon, Iowa. Interment will be in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Audubon. The casket bearers will be Jonathan Gross, Jackie Spaulding, Lathan Davis, Justice Davis, Nevaeh Gross, and Tim Spaulding. The family will meet with friends Monday morning from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon.