By Kaitlyn Kuehl-Berns

Gerald Frye grew up along the Mississippi River in Clayton, the son of John and Lucille Frye. “There were nine of us,” he said, describing his childhood in the small river town.

Frye’s father worked for the railroad and later as a commercial fisherman. Frye and his brothers spent their days on the banks fishing, trout-lining and climbing the hillsides surrounding the town.

“All day we’d be hunting crawdads or grasshoppers,” he remembered. “Depending on the time of year, we’d put on cheese or turtle eggs. So that kept us busy.”

Frye shared one of his favorite memories along the river was taking turns with his brothers to help his dad change out the navigation lights from Guttenberg to Lynxville. 

“We would dump out the eight or 12 square jars depending on the side of the river we were on. Then we’d fill them back up with water and put a couple different things in to get the battery started.”

Frye attended the Clayton School until 10th grade and was often the only student in his grade. He shared one of his earliest memories of attending school. 

“I told them I couldn’t go because I didn’t know anything,” he laughed. “They said, ‘Well, that’s what you go to school for!’”

Frye remembers both his teachers, Miss Jacobs and Mr. Smith. “He was strict, but they were both very good teachers.”

The teachers rode the train to town each morning from Guttenberg. Frye also enjoyed riding the train with his brothers to visit his older sister.

“For 10 cents, we could ride to McGregor. Then to come back home, we’d give them another dime. ‘Here come those Frye kids again,’ the locals would say,” he recalled.

After completing 10th grade, Frye transferred to Garnavillo High School and graduated in 1951. He enjoyed school, especially his English and math courses. He didn’t participate in sports because he was busy working on the Stanton Klinge farm outside town.

While working on the farm, Frye attended church in Farmersburg, where he met his first wife, Iris Reinman.

Frye said, “The first time I saw her was at a church picnic after Bible school. I knew she would be my wife.”

After graduation, Frye moved to Cedar Rapids and enrolled in barber school. 

“That was quite a difference,” he said. “When my brother came down to visit me, there were three overhead stop-and-go lights. He never saw any of them. He was looking for a stop sign.”

Following six months of barber school, Frye completed his apprenticeship with Gilbert Rose in Monona. After the apprenticeship, he considered starting his own shop, but decided to join the military first.

“I knew if I started my own shop, I’d probably get called into the service,” he said. “So I volunteered before I got my own barber shop.”

In June 1954, Frye enlisted in the United States Army. His basic training was at Fort Bliss, Texas. 

“It was hot, always 100 degrees. We stayed in huts built on rocks off the ground. You could always hear the rattlesnakes underneath,” he said.

Later, Frye was asked by his commander to write down where they wanted to be stationed.

“We all kind of thought it was a joke. We thought we were all going to go to Korea,” he said. “My older brother, Kenny, had just spent three years in Germany. So for the fun of it, I wrote down Germany. That’s where I ended up going. The rest of the guys went to Korea.”

Frye shipped out from Camp Kilmer in New Jersey the day after Thanksgiving. Crossing the ocean took 11 days. Remembering the trip, he said, “We had rough water most of the way, so it was not a pleasant ride. I prayed I’d fly back, but I never did.”

“When I got to Germany, they didn’t have a job for me, so they put me in ordnance where they repaired military vehicle and artillery. I started in the office, then moved to parts. Lieutenants would bring in vehicles that were broken down. The garage would tell me what was wrong and I had to order the parts. Some of the vehicles had to be fixed within 24 hours or the general would be calling you,” he continued.

Toward the end, Frye was tasked with doing the reporting that went to the company commander. “I never had any critiques for not having a correct report, so I was kind of proud of that.”

While in Germany, Frye’s girlfriend wrote to him every day. Frye recalled, “Everybody else would complain they weren’t getting any mail and I’d get a stack.”

From his time living in other communities, Frye built relationships with pastors at the different churches in Clayton, Monona and Farmersburg. “I’d get letters from my folks and all three pastors too.”

During their free time, Frye and his friends enjoyed German meals. 

“We’d get a good German meal, a wiener schnitzel and some German beer. I haven’t been able to drink beer and like it since I’ve been over there,” he commented.

One of the friends Frye made overseas received a Plymouth DeSoto from his father, a car dealer in New York. 

“We’d leave the base and they’d all salute us, thinking we were officers in that big car,” Frye said with a grin.

When Frye returned to New York City, they were delayed for two days waiting, “watching the Statue of Liberty,” because of a dock strike.

He was discharged in June 1956 and returned to Garnavillo, where he opened his barber shop.

Frye married Iris Reinman in January 1957. Together, they built their home in Garnavillo and raised three children, Tom, Phillip and Sarah. His wife worked as a beautician until her passing in 1986.

After 24 years working as a barber, Frye switched careers and began working as a custodian at the Garnavillo School. There, he worked with Marilyn Johnson, a teacher who later became his second wife.

“Marilyn and I have been married 37 years,” he shared. The two had known each other years earlier through Iris, who used to babysit Marilyn’s daughter, Lisa, while she attended night school.

Frye has always been active in his church and community. He was a founding member of the Garnavillo Community Boosters and Lions Club. He helped raise funds to install the pavilion and bathrooms in the city park, organized the annual 4th of July celebration and put up Christmas decorations in the park.

For over 50 years, Frye has been a member of the Clay-Gar American Legion Post 723. He performed military honors at funerals, walked in parades, put up 138 American flags for different holidays, judged the “What the Flag Means to Me” essay contest and helped bring the Vietnam Veterans Traveling Wall memorial to Clayton County. The Legion also helped raise funds to build the veterans memorial in Garnavillo City Park.

Frye also served on the Clayton School House Association and helped preserve the school and town’s history. In 2013, he helped plan the school’s sesquicentennial celebration.

Frye said what motivated him was simply, “Giving back to my country and community.”

He smiled when reflecting on the years of community involvement. 

“I made a lot of friends,” he said. “It was more fun than work, even though it was work.” 

Though many fellow members have now passed, he remembers them fondly. “There were a lot of good times. I made a lot of friends.”